Project Overview
This case is about a partnership — not a client. In 2026 MiDeer Consulting began working with Rise Growth Lab, a New Zealand business consultancy founded by Rebecca Brook that helps NZ-based brands grow and runs the Growth Seekers community for local businesses. The two firms are exploring how to combine Rise Growth Lab’s local brand-growth work with MiDeer’s China expertise for the benefit of more New Zealand food businesses. The exploration is in its early stage, and the first concrete joint programme — an education-focused webinar for NZ food companies — was delivered on 13 August 2026. This page describes the relationship as it stands: no exaggeration, and no client outcomes claimed that have not happened.
The Connection
In early 2026 the two firms began talking. The conversation quickly surfaced the same observation from both sides: they keep meeting New Zealand businesses that are strong at home and unsure about China. Rise Growth Lab helps those brands grow locally; MiDeer has spent 25 years advising New Zealand companies on China. The idea of working together was a natural next step.
The Partnership — Complementary, and Early
The partnership is built on complementary strengths. Rise Growth Lab serves New Zealand brands on their domestic growth — positioning, marketing and the community of founders it convenes through Growth Seekers. MiDeer provides the China side: market-entry guidance, business culture, channels, compliance and the honest, first-hand read on what China actually looks like for a New Zealand exporter.
The shared intention, agreed between the two firms, is to offer China export advisory to more New Zealand food and beverage companies — companies whose products travel well and whose owners deserve a straight answer on China before spending a dollar there. We state it plainly: this is an intention, not a finished arrangement. No formal joint-venture structure and no signed client engagements sit behind this page yet.
The First Joint Programme — 13 August 2026 Webinar
The first concrete joint programme was a webinar held on 13 August 2026 for an invited group of around five New Zealand food and beverage businesses from the Growth Seekers community. Rebecca Brook of Rise Growth Lab opened and hosted; Julian Zhu and Diana Yao of MiDeer Consulting presented. The session was deliberately a 101-level introduction — honest and practical, built on first-hand data and MiDeer’s own on-the-ground views of China, not on slogans. Its content covered:
- ▸ China’s market reality and expectations. What the Chinese market is — and is not — for a New Zealand food brand today, and how to set realistic expectations before committing resources.
- ▸ Market entry and business culture. The practical basics of entering China and the business culture New Zealand exporters meet there — relationships, negotiation, and how decisions actually get made.
- ▸ F&B consumption trends and distribution channels. Where Chinese consumer demand for imported food is heading, and the channel options — from e-commerce platforms to cross-border routes — available to a New Zealand seller.
- ▸ Q&A. An open question session with the participating companies.
We describe the webinar as an education-first step: its purpose was to give the companies present a grounded starting point on China. Whether any of them chooses to take the next step with either firm is their own decision.
Where Things Stand — Early Stage, Stated Plainly
What has genuinely happened: MiDeer and Rise Growth Lab began working together in early 2026, agreed on the intention to explore a joint China export advisory for New Zealand food businesses, and they delivered their first joint programme — the 13 August 2026 webinar presented by Julian Zhu and Diana Yao and hosted by Rebecca Brook.
What we will not claim: the partnership is in its early stage. No signed client engagements with the webinar participants are claimed, and no fixed joint-offering structure is claimed to exist beyond the shared intention described above. The five or so companies that attended the webinar are not named here. This page will be updated only as verifiable milestones — further joint programmes, or signed client work arising from the partnership — are reached.
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