Kesko to launch online store in China

Food retailer Kesko Group announced Friday that it was going to open an online store in China.

Kesko, one of the largest food retailers in Finland, said the online store would bring Finnish food brands to the growing market in China.

Consumers in China will be able to order products online from Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba.

Finnish coffee firm Paulig, chocolate giant Fazer and the berry merchant Kiantama have been involved.

"The delivery of food to China has already begun," said the group, adding that the product range would expand to include more Finnish food brands in the next few months.

"China is the world's largest and most advanced e-commerce food market, from which we will learn lessons," says Mikko Helander, Kesko's president and CEO, in the press release.

Founded in 1940 and headquartered in the Finnish capital of Helsinki, Kesko group is the third largest retailer in northern Europe. It has nearly 2,000 stores and has operations in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Belarus and Poland.