German Chocolate in China

German Centennial Chocolate Brand Drives Business Development in China Through Supply Chain

As a retail brand, are you attracted to the Chinese market? Today, we would like to share with you a collaboration story about a chocolate brand. This is a German chocolate brand with a century-long history, and we began our partnership as soon as it entered the Chinese market. Over the years of collaboration, MOOV has expanded the service scope to include transportation, customs clearance, warehousing services, e-commerce operations, and a deeper involvement in the entire supply chain through our smartMOOV digital solutions. Through close cooperation with the client and continuous optimization of the supply chain, we have not only supported the brand’s expansion in the Chinese market but also successfully transitioned the brand from initial offline sales to operating flagship stores on Tmall and TikTok.

Project Background

Client Introduction

A German chocolate brand with a century-old history officially entered the Chinese market in 2019, embarking on its journey of offline chocolate sales. Faced with China’s vast and ever-changing consumer market, this German chocolate brand is challenged with how to quickly adapt and deeply cultivate the local market.

Project Objectives

The brand aims to outsource the entire supply chain segment of the Chinese market to a trustworthy third-party partner. By leveraging the third-party supplier’s scale effects to reduce overall supply chain costs and enhance supply chain operational efficiency, the brand can then concentrate its efforts on market development and brand building.

Why Choose MOOV

The brand chose MOOV as a partner primarily because of MOOV’s deep European and Chinese cultural background, as well as over ten years of warehousing management experience at major Chinese ports. Additionally, MOOV is committed to providing customers with customized supply chain solutions. This is particularly important for the German chocolate brand that has just entered the Chinese market, facing a volatile environment and rapid development needs. MOOV’s flexibility and custom service capability meet the brand’s needs for a dynamic supply chain.

Key Supply Chain Strategy and Implementation

2019-2021 | Adaptation and Integration | Brand officially entered the Chinese market and began offline sales

• MOOV initially offered the customer a comprehensive suite of services, including product registration and compliance, sea importation, port customs clearance, warehousing, and B2B local distribution. Additionally, MOOV facilitated the importation of goods into China on the customer’s behalf using our import license, prior to their license being prepared. Through MOOV’s professional services and close cooperation between both parties, the brand quickly entered the Chinese market and started sales.

2022 | Development and Optimization | Opened the Tmall flagship store and began using Chinese packaging, marking an important step in adapting to the local market.

• To accelerate the brand’s market share in China, the brand began using Chinese packaging, and we started working with local food-manufacturing and relevant international license holding partners to facilitate the repacking process. Including “raw material quality inspection – repackaging per daily order – finished product quality inspection – local logistics,” achieving rapid market entry for the new packaging.
• Moreover, as the brand began offering e-commerce services, we provided a new constant temperature B2C warehouse for the customer and integrated order management and warehouse management systems to speed up the shipping and return process, ensuring products reach end customers quickly and maintaining customer satisfaction.

2023 | Full Chain Supply Chain Services | Further expanded e-commerce channels, opened the Tik Tok flagship store

• To further enhance supply chain cost efficiency, MOOV’s cooperation with the brand entered a new phase, achieving full-chain supply chain integration in China, from product import audits to international logistics, customs clearance, warehousing, repackaging coordination, and local B2B and B2C distribution. Developing a deep partnership and ensuring mutual growth.

2024 | Customized Chinese Digital Supply Chain | Sales are expected to achieve a 50% increase, demonstrating strong growth in the brand’s business in China.

• Based on years of cooperative data and experience accumulation, MOOV will jointly customize and develop a digital supply chain management system for the client’s business in China, achieving comprehensive online visualization of order management, warehouse management, logistics, finance, and data analysis, laying a solid foundation for the brand’s long-term development in the Chinese market. Due to the deep mutual understanding, this allows us to build a tailored digital solution for our client, ensuring that the system can match their business model, rather than forcing their business model to match the system.
• Overview of the customer’s supply chain solution in China

Conclusion

Through deep cooperation with MOOV, this traditional German chocolate brand not only achieved rapid expansion in the Chinese market but also significantly increased its market share, with even better performance expected in the future. This case not only demonstrates how an overseas brand can successfully enter and expand its market share in China with the support of a partner but also highlights the key role of modern logistics and supply chain management in the localization process of international brands. The cooperation model between MOOV and the German chocolate brand hopes to provide reference and inspiration for other international brands looking to expand their business in the Chinese market.