Just checked latest categorised ranking on Taobao.com (alibaba), A2 in China ranks No.3 on the top brands within IF sector.
On the below attached screenshot, No2. and No.3 are both showing 'Aptamil', except one is expressed in English/Chinese, the other is in English name.
So really it's:
1. Nutrilon
2.
Aptamil
3. A2
...
14. Bellamy
...
View attachment 370553
I think this ranking really means something, more than all the other factors we always tend to argue a lot commonly, A2 might not be the brand of the No1. overall sales of the month in China yet, but when public awareness level are significantly high as indicated by this awareness ranking, soon the hype in the local market will more or less translate into strong sales over the course.
Consider there are almost hundreds of brands in almost every sector competing furiously in China's huge consumer markets, it's an absolutely astonishing achievement if any brand could get the name out there on the top 3 in any sector, European brands are usually much heavier in China.
Example, I remember a few years ago, I was in China with wife and our 1st baby (1 year old), as soon as we arrived in China, my wife and I ventured into a big local supermarket looking for nappy supplies for two weeks, standing between the long aisles, we were shocked, jaw-droppingly shocked, in AUS we tend to decide between Babylove vs Huggies in Woolies/Coles, over there there were Japanese brands, Korean Brands, German Brands, America Brands....I did not see Huggies at f..ing all. This serves me a very good lesson later on, whenever I tend to evaluate international business by impression based on their local footprints, you tend to over estimate the significance!
So good on A2 for beating all those brands and eventually come through to the top and get many Chinese hype about it.
I have friends in both Australia(daigou) as well as friends in China(mother/baby store owner), from the channels that I have access to, the message was that Bellamy was actually selling ok, but there were times when Bellamy fell short on the product availability, merchants turned to A2 for sustainable growth, which usually has better product supply.
No sellers want to let customers down, especially your customers have baby to feed everyday, if that supply chain breaks, what does the baby eat for that day.....??? as a merchant you do not only want to lose revenue, but also you don't want to lose reputation& trust to your customers too, so many of them at times turned their Bellamy clients into A2 clients.
And this is pretty much what the Q1 update is confirming too, when Bellamy has much fallen short of the expectations, at the same time, A2 continued to excel at a phenomenal pace. I don't understand why Bellamy mentions China's regulatory changes, as the net effect is minimal, the real changes have not come into effect yet, if not going to delay further. If A2 can still deliver an awesome result, if Aptmil and Nutrilon are still killing, why couldn't Bellamy, pointing fingers doesn't help here.
I believe the switch from Bellamy to A2 is a successful investment decision for myself.
All the best to you all, will continue to share if I see anything that might add any value.
(20min delay)