Last week the Consumer Team at CBBC headed up to Scotland. The team first went to Glasgow to host a China consumer masterclass for Scottish brands. The masterclass was led by CBBC's consumer sector leads and we welcomed the following speakers: Domenica Di Lieto, CEO of Emerging Communications UK, Jack Peters, Business Development Director from the Alibaba Group & Jason Kennedy, Sales Director from Glencairn Crystal Studio Ltd.

The masterclass was very insightful and touched upon many topics including: 

• China Consumer Market overview and update
• Chinese sales channels and routes to the Chinese market
• Top 2023 trends that can impact your business & 8 top tips to build a successful marketing strategy in China
• CBBC member Glencairn Crystal Studio shared their journey and experiences to China market

Here is some of what our participants and speakers said:

The quality of the event and speakers was excellent and attracted a good crop of businesses. We therefore look forward to working with you again - Mr David Slater, Director, International and Head of UK-China Business at KPMG UK LLP.

Can I just say, what an amazing time Mel and I had last week. Thanks for everything - Domenica Di Lieto, CEO of Emerging Communications UK. 

In the afternoon we then hosted a meet the buyer workshop. The workshop was again a huge success as Scottish companies met 1-2-1 with Chinese distributors, e-commerce platforms, solution providers. 

Some of the targeted product categories ranged from health and wellness, beauty, personal care, mother and baby, lifestyle and food and drink.

Here is some of what our participants said:

It was great to see companies having such productive 121s with service providers and buyers, lots of discussions and questions in the room; it worked really well. Thank you! - Mrs Huishan Chapman, Trade Specialist at Scottish Development International.

'Thank you CBBC for the excellent events and experiences. We have enjoyed the food, whiskey and culture, and had a good time meeting Scottish brands. It was very fruitful.' - Bill Yu, Director of Cameo.

Many thanks for hosting the event last week. I think that it was very thought provoking and informative and I am sure that it will benefit us in our strategy and opportunities in China - Mr. David Wheeldon, International Sales Manager at Isle of Skye Candle Co. 

The following day the CBBC team headed down Edinburgh to tour the new Johnnie Walker experience store on invitation by our member company Diageo. The tour provided us with an immersive distilling experience with AI and historical re-enactment. 

The CBBC was pleased to have a dynamic and fulfilling start of the new year of the Rabbit consisting of - business exchanges, creating meaningful contacts, generating new content & learning.