Wang, currently the co-founder of the artificial intelligence (AI) platform AI JAR, told NutraIngredients that the tool aims to help brands make informed export decisions without relying on large teams or high-cost consultants.
Common challenges of cross-border expansion include the lack of understanding of market demand, market competition, pricing and regulatory compliance from the in-house team, said the marketing specialist who had worked on promoting nutraceutical brands such as Nature’s Way in China.
“Over the years, I’ve seen too many strong brands miss their opportunity on the global stage,” said Wang. “Not because their products weren’t competitive, but because they lacked the right tools to make informed decisions within constrained budgets.”
According to Wang, an export market strategy traditionally requires weeks of research across market demand, competition, pricing, compliance, and channel structure, often costing AUD50k (US$35.5k) or more in agency and consulting fees.
These challenges and costs multiply when companies seek to enter dozens of new markets.
“For a long time, Australian brands have been concentrating their export efforts into China - selling products from infant formula to dietary supplements to red wine. However, businesses also realized that they cannot rely only on one market and are now exploring different export destinations,” she said.
“This means that you either physically travel there, which costs money, or you are buying industry reports or engaging market consultants, which similarly cost money, which can be exponentially greater when you do this for multiple markets and some businesses just couldn’t afford it.”
Building the platform
The AI platform is built based on three key sources of information. The first is data from market research agencies like Mintel and Euromonitor.
The platform also uses publicly available information obtained via AI crawlers such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and DeepSeek.
Thirdly, companies can also upload data collected from their in-house team to generate new market insights. Wang said that this in-house information would only be accessible to the company.
Examples of information that can be derived from the platform include competitor landscape, market trends, consumer demand, regulatory considerations, localisation, and go-to-market pathways.
Users can also obtain information on product formulation, packaging and formats and recommended retail price.
Wang said that the AI platform, which currently costs AUD$499 (US$354) per user each month, was used by brands across FMCG, health, beauty, and food sectors.
So far, there are already companies using the platform to explore opportunities in expanding into adjacent product categories.
“This is a honey company that is using the platform to explore the other category opportunities because their product is very niche and focused,” she said. “They’ve already hit the ceiling of the category’s growth and are using the tool to figure out potential strategies in expanding into other categories.”
There are also companies using the platform to understand market nuances, including a super food firm based in New Zealand, she said.
