Following the success of its Dracula Citrus brand, the Australian citrus marketer will enter China and Taiwan this season with a new brand
Since 2017 Pinnacle Fresh has been building a successful export programme into the US based on its Halloween-themed citrus brand, Dracula Citrus.
With Dracula Citrus, the company has been able to capitalise on the American holiday, which coincides with the Australian citrus season, building out a structured occasion-based strategy across multiple categories including blood oranges, Cara Caras, mandarins and Dekopons.
This year, the company will build on this success by launching a new brand into Asia, this time targeting the Mid-Autumn Festival.
“The opportunity to replicate what we’ve done in North America into other markets is very exciting, albeit on a smaller scale in comparison at this stage,” says Pinnacle Fresh marketing manager, Daniel Newport. “We’re happy to start small, remembering that our US programme was only seven containers back in 2017.”
Citrus Moon will utilise similar eye-catching colours and designs as the Pinnacle Fresh Dracula brand, but this time with a focus on the moon.
“The reason for the moon is based on the success of attaching ourselves to Halloween as a theme in North America, it was all about timing,” Newport explains. “In China, their second biggest festival behind Lunar New Year is an autumn Moon Festival that falls around September, depending on the moon cycle. So, that coincides nicely with our season as well.”
The company utilised its strong partnerships with Costco and Walmart to launch into China and Taiwan this season.
”I felt we were known as the Dracula people, so that’s what they expected,“ says Newport. “I told them that we thought we could come up with something more suitable to their market. And once we shared the artwork, the feedback was immediately positive. We knew we were onto a winner at that point.”
Once the idea was well-received, Newport says he worked closely with the Costco and Walmart teams, implementing feedback to ensure the brand would perform well within the China market.
Testing the waters
The brand launch will start with small shipments of blood oranges this season before expanding into other varieties from 2027 including navels and Cara Caras.
“We don’t want to do 200 containers in a hurry,” Newport explains. “It took us ten years to get to over 500 containers in North America, we’ll be happy if it takes ten years to do the same into Asia.”
The power of branding
Despite the slow and steady approach, Newport is confident the branding strategy will take off.
“I’ve noticed the power of what a successful brand can do. I think we wouldn’t have had the success we had in the US if we didn’t have that brand,” he says.
A key factor in the success of the brand has been leaning into holiday marketing with Halloween displays across major retail stores.
Citrus Moon will follow in these footsteps, launching with family packs designed for gift giving and sharing ahead of the Mid-Autumn festival this September.
“We think we’ve got the right pack size to fit both gifting and regular family occasions,” Newport says.
Expanding into new markets
Looking ahead, Newport says Pinnacle Fresh will look to expand Citrus Moon beyond China and Taiwan.
“We will get through this season and from about November start to put the feelers out to retailers in other markets and see which ones our new brand suits,” he says.
Although given the positive feedback Citrus Moon has already received, China has been a good place to start.
“We’re really happy to work with Costco and Walmart and soft launch the brand with the commitments that we’ve got in China,” Newport says. “But as far as 2027 goes, there’s no markets that are off the table.”
This article appears in the latest edition of Asiafruit Magazine. For more coverage on Australian citrus and beyond, subscribe HERE.
