Premium-quality fresh produce imports again feature prominently in Alibaba’s plans for Singles Day (11 November) in 2016.
The Chinese e-commerce giant launched its Singles Day Global Shopping Festival at Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Cruise Terminal last week, where its B2C platform Tmall unveiled its ‘Zhen Xian Quan Qiu’ (selected fresh from around the globe) campaign.
The campaign aims to develop Tmall’s direct sourcing business from suppliers across the world, enabling consumers to buy globally, and to give brands the confidence and convenience to sell into the Chinese market.
“This plan aims to select the highest quality produce and companies from the whole world and make it much easier to bring delicious fresh food to consumer’s table,” a Tmall spokesperson told Asiafruit.
The Tmall spokesperson said the company was working with leading industry organisations and brands ahead of Singles Day, including the Washington Apple Commision (Washington gala apples), Perfection Fresh (Australian Calypso mangoes) and USA Pears (green pears), which will be sold via Mr Fresh, Tmall’s fresh market.
Mr Fresh will also import new products such as Japanese Aomori apples and Spanish yellow peaches, both of which have been rarely sighted across e-commerce platforms.
Singles Day was originally created as an anti-Valentines Day by Chinese university students. Alibaba began to promote Singles Day as a shopping festival in 2009, offering promotions and discounts. The company reported US$14.3bn in sales over its Global Shopping Festival last year.