Digital Marketing for Food & Beverage in China

As the Business Advisor of the EU SME Centre, David Lavorel advises European SMEs on how to access opportunities and mitigate risks in the Chinese market.

A seasoned advisor with extensive experience on China-related matters, he has spent most of the past 30 years in China. He worked for a French electric utility company, a European chemical group, the Trade section of the French Embassy in Beijing and a leading European Intellectual Property Law firm. In 2010, he was selected by the European Commission and a consortium of chambers of commerce to launch the EU SME Centre Phase I.

During his career, he has advised hundreds of SMEs on how to approach the Chinese market.

Xavier Chatte-Ruols is a French engineer specialised in agriculture and agri-food business. He also studied international management and foreign trade in Canada.

Xavier started his career as export manager for a French SME operating in the food industry. In 2006, he joined Business France, a French public agency responsible for fostering export growth by French businesses, and facilitating international investment in France.

Xavier served as trade advisor in South Africa (2006-2011), country director in Angola (2013-2016), country director in Kenya, and regional director for East Africa (2016-2019). Between 2011 and 2013, he was posted at the head office of Business France in Paris, heading the department in charge of international organisations & donors.

Xavier Chatte-Ruols has lived in China in September 2019. He currently serves as Deputy Director of the Business France network in China (5 offices) and managing director of the Shanghai office.

Laurence is Managing Director of Hopscotch Greater China. She oversees the agency’s operations across three offices in mainland China (Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou), as well as Hong Kong and Taipei.

With over 20 years of experience in integrated communications, Laurence specialises in PR, marketing, digital strategy, influencer marketing, corporate communications and crisis management. Throughout her career, she has developed deep expertise in the food and beverage sector, covering themes including nutrition, sustainability, food regulations, marketing compliance and advertising standards.

Hopscotch China is part of Hopscotch Groupe, a global consultancy with a network of 40 offices across 32 countries. The group combines 360° communications expertise with a profound understanding of local audiences to enhance the Relational Capital of brands and organisations worldwide.

Hopscotch China (previously Sopexa) has been dedicated to promoting Food & Beverage brands and products for more than 20 years, establishing itself as a trusted partner for international brands and trade associations entering or expanding in the Chinese market. The agency supports its clients across all sectors (Food & Beverage, Luxury, Retail, Tech, Lifestyle, etc.) in navigating the complex Chinese market. Hopscotch’s integrated approach encompasses digital marketing, social media strategy, influencer partnerships, shopper marketing, events, branding and media relations, all tailored to the cultural specificities and evolving dynamics of the Chinese consumer landscape.

Alban Renaud is a French lawyer based in China and registered with the Paris bar association and the Chinese Ministry of Justice as a foreign lawyer. He has been advising European and foreign companies for more than 20 years in their projects with China, as well as Chinese companies with their projects in Europe.

As the head of the firm’s local practice, he advises on all corporate law issues (WFOE, JV, representative offices), M&A, intellectual property, international contracts and employment law and cross-border transactions.

Alban is an arbitrator with the Shenzhen Arbitration Commission, the Shanghai Arbitration Commission and the South China International Arbitration Center (Hong Kong). He also serves as President of the Club Agro of the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China and was awarded with the distinction of Knight in the French Order of Agricultural Merit.

Elliot Papageorgiou is Gowling WLG’s Head of IP Strategy in China. With over 25 years of experience, Elliot has practised intellectual property (IP) law across several continents, including Oceania, Europe and Asia.

Based in Gowling WLG’s Shanghai office, Elliot counsels international clients on contentious and non-contentious IP matters, with special focus on IP value-growth and value-extraction, strategic portfolio development, and cross-border IP enforcement and infringement litigation in China and across the APAC region. Elliot supports a number of embassies in China with current IP developments and issues, and is regularly consulted by the European Delegation and European Intellectual Property Office in China. He is the former National Chair of the European Chamber in China (EUCCC)’s Intellectual Property Rights Working Group (IPR WG) and has held various positions within the IPR WG since 2006.

Elliot has represented a number of Fortune 500 companies and other multinationals in patent litigation. Other recent client briefs include developing IP strategies for, a number of Europe’s leading venture capitalist funds; strategically advising a global leader in cutting-edge semiconductor fabrication, a global leader in quantum computing technology, global engineering and manufacturing conglomerates, as well as some of Europe’s best-known Engineering firms.

As part of his disputes and litigation practice, Elliot guided a range of complex patent litigation, as well as trademark and copyright litigation cases by way of petition for re-hearing (certiorari) before China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) on a number of occasions. One notable such case, was ranked number one in the SPC’s “Top 50 IP Cases of the Year.”

Throughout his legal career, Elliot has consistently been recognised as a leading practitioner in his field by IAM Patent 1000, IAM Strategy 300, World Trademark Review 1000, Managing Intellectual Property, Chambers and Partners, Legal 500, Who’s Who Legal, and WIPR, just to name a few.

In addition to his practice, Elliot regularly teaches IP courses at various universities and has given seminars for various industry and professional organisations in China and internationally.