China’s top spicy snack food firm picks Wellspire as its exclusive distributor in Thailand

ACE Market-listed Wellspire Holdings Bhd, a distributor of consumer-packaged foods and an online retailer of consumer-packaged foods in Thailand, has been appointed as an exclusive distributor to a leading Chinese modern spicy snack food producer.

Yesterday (March 23), its subsidiary Bai Li Enterprise Co Ltd inked a distribution agreement with HH International Enterprise Ltd which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Weilong Delicious Global Holdings Ltd.

Weilong’s range of spicy snack products

Under the agreement, Wellspire will act as the exclusive distributor for Weilong’s products in Thailand.

For a start, Wellspire will distribute the Weilong brand konjac and seasoned flour products, namely the Weilong Big Hot Stick (Latiao) and Weilong Konjac Shuang. This distribution partnership is anticipated to open up new revenue streams for Wellspire while complementing its existing range of products to offer consumers even more choices.

Weilong Delicious Global and its subsidiaries form the largest spicy snack food company in China. The Intelligence Research Group has forecast the Latiao market to be worth RM61.06 bil (US$13.6 bil) by 2026 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.6%.

In terms of retail sales value in 2021, the Weilong Group ranked first both among all spicy snack food enterprises in China (with a market share of 6.2%) and in each seasoned flour product and spicy vegetable snack product category, according to Frost & Sullivan.

Henceforth, this inaugural agreement solidifies Wellspire’s position as the go-to distributor for successful brands aiming to expand into Thailand.

Mo Guopiao

“Given the growing market demand for snack food in Thailand, we believe that there is a significant commercial opportunity for Weilong’s products. Moreover, these spicy mouth-watering offerings will certainly strike a chord with the Thais’ tastebuds,” commented Wellspire CEO and executive director Mo Guopiao.

“We intend to reciprocate Weilong Group’s trust and confidence in Wellspire by growing the brand in the hearts and minds of Thai consumers and delivering robust results by leveraging on our network and connection to the market.”

Meanwhile, Weilong’s sales director (overseas department) Selvan Zhang said the products by the group are immensely popular in China with Thai consumers highly expected “to find them irresistible”.

“We have selected to work with Wellspire given its proven expertise and track record and we look forward to introducing more Weilong Delicious products to Thailand in the foreseeable future,” he added.

At the close of today’s trading, Wellspire was up 1 sen or 2.47% to 41.5 sen with 12.15 million shares traded, thus valuing the company at RM296 mil. – March 24, 2023

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