Freshness is a key factor for fruit and vegetable shoppers in most parts of the world, but in Asia, it’s king. Its vital importance to consumers in most of the region’s markets helps to explain why they buy fresh produce far more frequently than their Western counterparts. That ‘quest for fresh’ is quite a sight to behold at point-of-sale, be it shoppers burrowing through a basket of cabbages or pressing new-season mangoes to their noses.
Such a culture of tactile purchasing has led some to question whether fresh-cut produce will take off in Asia. Most of the region’s shoppers still expect to buy whole fruits and prepare them at home, while vegetables free of packaging or bearing a little dirt are often taken as signs of ‘direct-from-farm’ appearance. Pre-cut, pre-packed produce displayed in a fridge may be perceived as lacking freshness.
There’s a risk of generalising here though. After all, Asian consumer perceptions vary dramatically, both between and within countries. Fresh-cut produce has already established a firm following in Japan and Korea, and this is spreading to other developed markets such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The food service sector has been the main driver of demand, but consumption has also expanded to retail markets. Even in many less developed markets, fresh-cut produce is readily available at street vendors or retail outlets, albeit prepared on site.
The grounds for a more professional fresh-cut sector in Asia are growing, however. Convenience is gaining importance for consumers, driven by busier lifestyles in Asia’s bustling cities. Younger generations exposed to global trends are shopping with a different mind-set to their parents where choice, novelty, convenience, health and food safety supersede price, ‘freshness’ and ‘filling the stomach’. And retailers with the refrigeration systems to sell fresh-cut produce can leverage such value-added lines as a point of difference from the wet markets. Asian produce suppliers may also find good value-adding avenues in fresh-cut processing, particularly if their whole fruit is too blemished for export or bears a lot of ‘dead weight’.
Two of the key challenges facing both suppliers and retailers are maintaining shelf life and managing food safety, and technology has a vital role to play here. But the opportunities for fresh-cut in Asia are undeniable, and they will receive further exploration at the Asiafruit Congress on 7-9 September this year. We hope to see you there!
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