Bubs founder and MD to take over reins from outgoing CEO

11-Sep-2018 - Last updated on 11-Sep-2018 at 12:13 GMT

Bubs' boat milk infant formula products have been largely responsible for its staggering success, especially in China.

Bubs Australia’s current CEO Nicholas Simms has announced his resignation from the infant nutrition firm, with founder, MD and former CEO Kristy Carr to take over her previous duties once more.

Carr had filled the role of CEO until Simms was appointed to the position in June 2017; he will step down next month as his contract with Bubs comes to a conclusion.

Portfolio of progress

During his time as CEO, Bubs experienced significant progress, eventually becoming Australia’s top manufacturer of goat dairy products after its acquisition of NuLac Foods last December.

The $39m deal was part of the company’s aggressive expansion strategy for China, particularly in the goat milk product sector.

In February, it signed an international supply agreement with JD.com, followed by a distribution agreement with QianJiaWanPu in April that ensured Bubs’ products were sold in Mother & Baby stores in China.

These deals allowed Bubs to take advantage of the booming cross-border e-commerce platform in China, as well as daigou sales between Australia and China.

Further establishing its e-commerce presence, Bubs signed a supply agreement with China-based supply chain and service provider New Times Asia in June.

This deal entailed the supply of Bubs and CapriLac goat milk infant nutrition products to 20 Chinese e-commerce platforms, including Baby Tree and MamaGo.

Shortly after, the firm entered into a binding manufacturing agreement with Deloraine Dairy to facilitate its registration with the CFDA (now called the SAMR),

Concurrently, Bubs also signed an agreement with Alibaba for the opening of a flagship store on Tmall Global, where its entire range of infant formula and organic baby food was made available.

Last month, it entered into an agreement with Chinese distributor Hipac, granting the company access to another 83,000 stores in China.

It also announced a highly impressive year-on-year sales growth of over 500%, with the firm’s 644% increase in export sales to China largely responsible.

Presently, Bubs is on the ASX Top 500 All Ordinaries list, which includes the 500 largest ASX-listed firms in terms of market capitalisation.

Contribution and distribution

Bubs has also been doing well domestically, having increased its presence in Australian stores such as Coles, Woolworths, Chemist Warehouse, Costco and Big W.

In a media statement, Carr said: “The company is poised for rapid expansion and I am very excited to be taking on this challenge and leading our talented team into the next phase of Bubs’ journey. I’m grateful to Nick for his contribution to our strategy and growth at Bubs during his tenure as CEO.”

Chairman Dennis Lim said, “Kristy has been very much part of the leadership team responsible for the company’s success, and performed an integral role in advancing recent developments in our China route-to-market strategy. The board is confident Kristy is well qualified to take the business to the next level.”