MELCHERS CHINA CEO IN DIALOGUE WITH MADE IN CHINA PODCAST – PART I
Topic: In the very beginning, spices and porcelain were probably traded by Melchers. What are your core fields nowadays?
(Our CEO Anton Melchers has been interviewed for the Made in China Podcast to talk about his personal journey to China, the history of Melchers and business in and with China. This is part I of the series.)
Anton Melchers: Yes indeed, it used to be a completely different business. It was really a classic trading business. We traded in raw materials and semi-finished products. Today, when we talk about the fact that our task is to be an intermediary, so to speak, to work the market on behalf of companies, either as an agent or a distributor, then this mainly occurs in 3 areas. Namely:
- Machinery and Equipment: this is also what Melchers does in SEA and Asia-wide, including industrial consumables
but also
- Luxury or upmarket Consumer Goods: Here we are active in marketing and retailing
and something new, or at least new in terms of the focus, is the area of
- Healthcare: which fits in very nicely with the trend theme here in China, with the ageing demographic, but also with the middle and upper classes becoming richer.
In addition, we also offer services, and this realization came before Covid, that companies would like to dedicate themselves to the market independently and that we can and want to stand by the companies in topics such as founding a company or administratively through corporate services, as we call it, i.e., finance and accounting, human resources, IT and supply chain topics, but also through legal management, in order to take away the headaches and let the companies focus on sales and marketing. This means that we have already adapted a little and are more of a companion or facilitator, to accompany the companies in their business activities.
Beyond that, Melchers does a lot more, but in essence it is what I have described. All of this is inbound, i.e., directed towards China, but there are also outbound activities within the group, i.e., that we source or purchase, in China, ranging from toys and home textiles to technical products of all kinds and now also machinery and equipment. These are topics that we have a strong focus on and that will become relevant or more relevant in the long term. Especially machinery and equipment from China to the world.
