With Mexican raspberries and blackberries gaining access to China as of November 2014, importers are gearing up for the first arrivals. The opening ceremony for Mexican berries took place during Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto’s visit to Shanghai on 12 November, and Beijing on 14 November, and importers are keen to get their hands on some of the Mexican goods.
“This is the first year for Mexican berries, and blackberries and raspberries are quite a new product to the Chinese consumers,” said Loren Zhao of China’s leading fruit e-tailer Fruitday. “But we are confident that we can sell them and have a good year for these berries in China. We have been doing some market research with our customers and the feedback has been good – our customers like the taste of these berries.”
Encouraging results don’t mean going gung-ho for Mexico, though, with Fruitday cautious to target its high-end consumers and trial the berries with customers before committing to major promotions and pre-sales.
“The timing is perfect because they should arrive just before Chinese New Year, with the first blackberries and raspberries arriving around the end of December or early January,” Zhao told Fruitnet. “While Chinese consumers like strawberries and there are a lot of strawberries here, this will be the first time for blackberries and raspberries, so it’s going to be important to let our customer try them first.”
Back from a trip to Mexico in November to suss out the berry market, Zhao said he was blown away buy the infrastructure and facilities he saw, comparing them to those in the US.
“We believe the quality of these products is of a high standard and will be good,” Zhao said, adding that one hurdle could be that Mexico is relatively unknown for its fresh produce in China, and better known for its films.
With Mexican berries gaining access, international trading company SVA Fruits, the Shanghai-based joint venture between San Clement and Hortifrut, is gearing up for berry promotions this season.
“Mexican berries present a fantastic opportunity and can sell as a premium product online,” explained David Smith, SVA Fruits operations manager. “With a younger generation that has a higher spending capacity, and a fairly inexpensive channel to educate consumers about new products, I see a lot of potential in online sales, especially in the beginning.
“Berries are also highly perishable, so in the lead up to Chinese New Year, we could be looking at online pre-sales, which would mean we can sell three to four weeks in advance.”
While the protocol has been signed, there are still on-site inspections underway, said Smith, but hopes are high that come January 2015, Mexican berries will be arriving in China.
The December/January edition of Asiafruit Magazine includes a full preview of Chinese New Year trading prospects. To order your copy, email tosubscriptions@fruitnet.com.
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