Beyond daigou

For more than a decade, the health and wellness bridge between Australia and China ran through the daigou economy – an army of personal shoppers, resellers and cross-border couriers who turned Australian vitamins and supplements into some of the most sought-after items in Chinese shopping carts.

The channel was built on hustle and trust and it made fortunes. Eventually, it also hit a ceiling.

That ceiling is exactly where Daniel Xu wants to begin.

ACCESS Group has just named Xu its Group Vice President and CEO for Australia and New Zealand, handing him oversight of the Group’s strategic development, brand operations, supply chain management and business expansion across Australia, New Zealand and in future, to Europe and North America.

It’s a significant title, but the more interesting story is what it signals: a global health and wellness company built on channel-driven growth is now betting its future on brand-driven growth.

Two decades in the making

Xu isn’t new to this industry’s contradictions. With close to 20 years in Australia’s health supplement sector, he has watched the market evolve through nearly every phase – the daigou boom, the rise of cross-border ecommerce, the arrival of formal retail distribution and the emergence of new markets across South-East Asia and the Middle East.

Before joining ACCESS, he was COO at GMP Pharmaceuticals, one of Australia’s largest complementary medicine manufacturers. There, he oversaw operations across a workforce of more than 500 employees and helped push multiple Australian health brands into international markets.

It’s a CV built on the unglamorous mechanics that make a global brand possible: product development, manufacturing, quality systems and supply chain integration. For a company that already knows how to sell into China, that skill set matters more than another marketer’s instinct.

ACCESS didn’t need someone to open more doors. It needed someone who could build what walks through them.

“Access Corporate Group has already built an extraordinary success story in China,” Xu says.

“What inspired me to join the company is the opportunity to help write the next chapter, transforming that success into a truly global one.”

From channels to consumer brands

That next chapter has a name inside ACCESS, fittingly called ‘Globalisation 2.0’. What distinguishes the strategy from a simple expansion play, Xu insists, is the ambition attached to it. Entering more countries is the easy part. ACCESS has already proven it can do that.

Building brands that consumers in those countries actually trust and reach for – without the scaffolding of a daigou or distributor relationship – is the challenge. It’s also, according to Xu, the only version of global growth worth chasing.

“My vision is not simply to expand into more markets, but to build global brands that represent quality, credibility and genuine health outcomes,” he says.

“That opportunity is what motivates me every day.”

To understand why ACCESS is making this move now, Xu believes it helps to understand where it began. Founded by serial entrepreneur Frank He, ACCESS has spent nine years assembling a business ecosystem spanning brand incubation, global sourcing, retail and international commerce.

Today it generates annual sales exceeding US$700 million and reaches millions of consumers worldwide under the mission of ‘Everyday Better Life’.

The evolution mirrors the transformation of the daigou model itself, Xu explains. What began as an informal network of independent shoppers carrying products across borders has evolved into a sophisticated commercial sector, with many early daigou operators becoming established distributors.

Xu believes it’s a sign of an industry maturing in real time. While he remains focused on the Group’s overall corporate strategy and global expansion, Xu is tasked with deepening supply chain integration and building the brand portfolio that Globalisation 2.0 requires.

“After nearly two decades in Australia’s health and nutraceutical industry, I believe we have everything it takes to build internationally respected health and wellness brands,” he says.

“By combining world-class Australian science, premium manufacturing, and meaningful innovation, we can create products that earn the trust of consumers around the world.”

What comes next

The Group is already positioning Australia as its innovation and supply chain hub, while progressively building out its international footprint. Xu will lead that execution through localized brand operations, international supply chain development, regional operating platforms and expansion across both B2B and direct-to-consumer channels.

In essence, this will stitch together a more integrated global operating model than the Group has run before.

This month, ACCESS will open its new Australia and New Zealand headquarters in Chatswood, Sydney – a physical milestone of a company leveling up. Indeed, the daigou era significantly accelerated Chinese consumer demand for many Australian health and wellness brands, giving ACCESS the infrastructure to compete globally.

What comes next, under Xu’s watch, is less about finding new places to sell and more about earning the right to be there, and he is keen to lead ACCESS in its continuing evolution and long-term global success.