Access Corporate Group, a rapidly expanding brand management company which supports premium brands exporting to China, has opened an office in Auckland.
The opening is part of the Australian company’s ambitious international expansion and confirms appetite for products defined by New Zealand’s strong international image encompassing lifestyle, innovation and nature.
The three-year-old start-up headquartered in Sydney already represents 25 premium brands, including beauty, health, wine and lifestyle products.
To-date brand partners, including three New Zealand brands, have been individually selected by the company’s Chief Brand Officer, Livia Wang (pictured) and guided by three criteria of quality, innovation and authentic ingredients.
Access was developed with a vertical integration business model incorporating C2C sales through a growing network of some 45,000 resellers, ecommerce and logistics which distinguishes it from other global brand management companies and is ideal for the Chinese market. It also puts the business as a leader in emerging trend of social commerce.
Access’s disruptive proposition takes a leaf from gig-economy start-ups, providing independent resellers with training, support and digital tools. The vertical integration gives Access increasingly powerful consumer behaviour data to help grow the business for their partners and resellers.
The seamless experiences help Access to maintain high-trust long term relationships for brands, resellers and consumers, critically important in China.
Among Access Corporate Group’s 25 brands are three New Zealand companies: premium beauty brand Savar, MitoQ nutraceuticals, and manuka honey brand BEE+. The goal is to increase the New Zealand portfolio to eight brands over the next three years.
Greg Macpherson, former MitoQ CEO and founder of Pharmacy Direct has been appointed to lead the New Zealand company as general manager. Savar’s founder Vicky Woolford will stay on to help build and expand a local team.
About the ambitions for New Zealand, Macpherson says, “We are looking for companies in the premium health and beauty space that have exceptional products, ingredients and story. Innovative dairy brands are also of interest of course and in addition we’re interested in sourcing ingredients which may have utility across the Access portfolio.”
Macpherson’s intimate knowledge of Access Corporate Group comes from years of working with them. “Our partnership with Access was a major contributor to MitoQ’s rapid growth over recent years. In 2018-2019 we achieved a phenomenal 300 percent growth with demand outstripping our supplies.”
Ambitious goals
The New Zealand operation has a target to achieve more than NZ$100 million in export sales over the next five years and will be building new warehousing, consolidating its supply chain, as well as expanding its New Zealand reseller network and operating infrastructure.
“It is an exciting time for us as we expand to our first office outside of Australia and China,” says Livia Wang. “New Zealand has a wonderful reputation for nature and innovation, and amazing entrepreneurs who have strong stories to tell.”
“We have a strict set of guidelines when considering new brands. Savar is a good fit for Access as it ticks all the boxes. We love the fact it uses ethically sourced natural ingredients that care for both humans and the planet, as well as cutting-edge technology that ensures production of skincare is of the highest quality. It’s a great range that will enrich the daily lives of our consumers and help deliver our promise of ‘Everyday Better Life’,” she added.
“Vicky has a great entrepreneurial spirit and we’re confident it will be a great partnership. We’ll bring Savar on a new journey which encompasses skincare, homewares and travel essentials that builds incredibly close and dynamic relationships with our consumers,” said Greg Macpherson.