Nova Spring Water at Export Growth China

Penrith-based firm Nova Spring Water joined Australian soccer great Tim Cahill and New South Wales Minister for Trade, the Hon. Stuart Ayres MP in marking the official launch of the NSW Business Chamber’s Export Growth China program at a gala event in Shanghai on Thursday evening.

The Chamber’s ground-breaking Export Growth China program showcases Australia’s best goods and services to Chinese wholesale buyers and distributors in a purpose-built showroom located in ShanghaiMart, the largest permanent trade centre in Asia.

The program enables small and medium-sized Australian businesses to reach a global audience while the Chamber’s international trade experts on the ground in Shanghai proactively match them with potential business partners.

Nova Spring Water bottles pure spring water from the Central Coast Highlands of NSW which has been processed through a five-stage filtration process, and is one of 65 Australian businesses taking part in the program to achieve export success in China.

“As Australia’s only producer of bulk water bottled in BPA-free packaging, which is also completely recyclable, there is an exciting opportunity for Nova Spring Water to take advantage of the growing demand for ‘clean and green’ products among Chinese consumers,” said Nova Spring Water founder Nitin Lotliker.

“The launch event in Shanghai gave us a chance to inspect the Export Growth China showroom ourselves and meet the experienced team in China who will be working to match us with potential business partners.

“The showroom is ideally located in a bustling international trade centre, and with a significant continent of Chinese media and trade officials, we are confident that our products will be in front of key decision makers to put us on the right path to achieving export success,” Mr Lotliker said.

At the launch event, NSW Business Chamber Chief Executive, Stephen Cartwright, and Deputy President, Professor Trevor Cairney, were joined by more than 180 dignitaries including Mr Yu Ping, Vice President of China Council for Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), and Australian and Chinese business owners, including representatives from Nova Spring Water, Akubra and Vitaman.

“We are incredibly proud to officially launch the Export Growth China program in Shanghai, in what is the culmination of a long-held ambition of the NSW Business Chamber to provide a low-cost, low-risk solution for Australian SMEs looking to export to China,” said Mr Cartwright.

“After leading a trade delegation of Australian SMEs to Shanghai in early 2012, it was clear to me that Australian businesses understood the huge potential for their goods and services in China but didn’t quite know how to navigate the complexities of exporting to the world’s largest consumer market.

“With a national identity that’s synonymous with being ‘clean and green’, Australian businesses like Nova Spring Water are ideally positioned to meet the consumer needs of China’s burgeoning middle class.

“The signing of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement has created enormous opportunities for Australian businesses, including reduced tariffs, but there are still language barriers, regulatory differences and a significant amount of financial risk to contend with.

“Building on NSW Business Chamber’s existing China export consulting service, which has already helped many Australian businesses achieve export success, we launched Export Growth China with the aim of taking the stress and guesswork out of the export process.

“Export Growth China program participants have their products or services displayed in the ShanghaiMart showroom for a minimum of six months, during which time our team of international trade experts in Shanghai identify potential Chinese buyers and business partners.

“If a product or service does generate interest from Chinese buyers, the Chamber works with the Australian business to facilitate individual trade agreements so that they can retail their products or services throughout China.

“In addition to receiving real-time feedback on potential sales leads in China, our program participants are fully-supported across both markets with an experienced team in Australia also on hand to help local businesses

“Whether it is in our showroom in Shanghai or back home in Australia, our trusted team is there to support businesses throughout the entire process to make their China export dream a reality,” Mr Cartwright said.

Media contact: Nitin Lotliker 0400 398 578 or Elizabeth Kelleher 0414 626 384