Australian vitamins get 'energy boost'

About A$80 million of Blackmores' sales were to China, with the bulk of those being sold either to Chinese consumers in Australia or through the free trade zones, Holgate said. Product from warehouses within the zones can then be sold through e-commerce platforms of firms such as Alibaba without attracting the current 35 percent import duty, she said.

"The development of the free trade zones and the falling Australian dollar has helped catapult the demand for Australian products," Holgate said.

Foreign companies are perceived to offer superior quality－an important advantage following Chinese product safety scandals such as the 2008 finding of toxic melamine in infant formula, said Chris Schmidt, a senior consumer health analyst at Euromonitor.

"Chinese consumers, especially the more sophisticated vitamins and dietary supplements consumers in the largest cities, still view locally manufactured products with skepticism," Schmidt said. "Swisse seems to have taken on something of an aspirational brand positioning in China. That's very important in the health and wellness and supplement spaces."