STORY: CIIE window of opportunity: Canadian businessman
DATELINE: Oct. 30, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:01
LOCATION: Ottawa
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of street views in Shanghai
2. various of CIIE
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): RUSS RIMMER, CEO of Avalon Dairy
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): RUSS RIMMER, CEO of Avalon Dairy

STORYLINE:

A Canadian businessman has said the upcoming China International Import Expo (CIIE) is a window of opportunity, providing insights into Chinese consumers.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): RUSS RIMMER, CEO of Avalon Dairy
"Avalon has attended the CIIE for two years. We had great experiences, just love the city of Shanghai, the people. The CIIE is a window of opportunity for us, so we're very much looking forward to getting back to Shanghai.
It's a window into the Chinese opportunity, because it introduces us to every level of supply chain. It introduces us to consumers and we had a lineup of about 100 yards long filled with people (who) wanted to come to the booth and try our milk, try our yogurt and try our ice cream, so we got immediate feedback from people, at the same time around our packaging, around our product quality, the taste profile. Not every taste profile is the same, so it really helped us understand who our consumer was. So we were able to get very good insights into Chinese consumers, the methods of distribution, and that really helped us to understand what the opportunity was."

Rimmer also acknowledged the organization of the CIIE, saying the expertise helps them to explore the opportunities and make them a reality.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): RUSS RIMMER, CEO of Avalon Dairy
"Certainly the level of expertise exists with the CIIE. We also know that the level of organization is going to be superb. We know that the amount of people we can expect to have thousands of visitors, so we're prepared for that, we're prepared with all of the samples. All of those levels of expertise are available at the CIIE to benefit us and to help us to explore the opportunities and make it a reality."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Ottawa.
(XHTV)