Australia beef off-cuts sold at a premium to China's middle class
Australia's NSW cattle company and JD.com, an online retailer run by Chinese billionaire Richard Liu, have made a deal to sell Australian beef off-cuts at a premium to almost half of China's 600 million internet users.  Sanger Australia's CEO, James Campbell, says that food "is the fastest growing component of online retail", and works alongside China's rapid rise in online purchasing.  Earlier this year, Mr Liu launched "Australian Mall" which involved partnering JD.com with several Australian-listed companies, such as a2 Milk and Treasury Wine Estates, and is part of Mr Liu's strategy to rival Alibaba and make China's "wealthy middle class fall in love with JD".
Australian beef usually destined for cheap hamburgers will instead be sold at a premium in China after a NSW cattle company struck a deal with JD.com, an online retailer headed by Chinese billionaire Richard Liu.

Sanger Australia, a division of Bindaree Beef Group, will gain exposure to almost half of China's 600 million internet users under the agreement.

Traditionally cheaper cuts of beef from Bindaree Beef's abattoir will be sold at a premium in China. Credit: Michele Jedlicka

But chief executive James Campbell said the company would initially export a "modest amount" of product.

"The partnership with JD is to develop the brand exclusively online and broaden that range over time," Mr Campbell said.