Nestlé has agreed a tie-up with a traditional Chinese medicine company controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing in an unusual alliance between the ancient and modern worlds of healthcare and nutrition.
The pairing of Chinese medicine, with roots going back two millennia, and the world’s biggest food producer by sales comes as companies increasingly seek out innovation from ancient practices such as traditional medicine and agriculture.
The joint venture with Hong Kong-based Hutchison China MediTech (Chi-Med) will give the Swiss group access to the healthcare and pharmaceutical group’s library of 50,000 extracts from more than 1,200 herbal plants.