The deal could also benefit local Australian oat farmers, with Nestle also set to introduce the popular Uncle Tobys brand into China as well. China’s growing affluent middle class has…

The deal could also benefit local Australian oat farmers, with Nestle also set to introduce the popular Uncle Tobys brand into China as well.

China’s growing affluent middle class has already fallen in love with Weet-Bix, sometimes stripping Australian supermarket shelves and paying up to $50 a box, could soon pick up a taste for some of the iconic lollies like bananas and milk bottles, after food giant Nestle signed a deal to launch the Allen’s lolly brand in China.

The deal could also benefit local Australian oat farmers, with Nestle also set to introduce the popular Uncle Tobys brand into China as well.

Nestle, which owns Allen’s and Uncle Tobys, is partnering with one of China’s biggest online retail platforms, VIP.com, to offer its estimated 300 million customers some of products from the two Australian food brands.

The Chinese e-commerce site has annual turnover of $8.2 billion, and if the Chinese fall for Allen’s Ripe Raspberries and Red Frogs, or Uncle Tobys’ cereals, oats and muesli bars it could prove a bonanza for Nestle’s Australian manufacturing plants and their workers and suppliers, including farmers.

Nestle is treading a well-worn path by Australian food producers that have found a huge and lucrative market in China where shoppers, particularly from the wealthy middle class, are eager for Australian-made foods that are associated with gold standard food security standards.