Zespri has reconfigured its business model in China to become an ‘importer of record’, bringing it into line with the long-established models used in Japan and Europe ahead of what’s set to be a record season of Zespri kiwifruit imports into China.
“China is poised to become Zespri’s number one market by volume this season and will account for around one-fifth of all our sales. We anticipate sales of around 24m trays in 2016, up about one-third from the 18m trays sold last season,” said Lain Jager, Zespri CEO. “Ultimately, this change will allow us to optimise our quality delivery in market and offer an enhanced level of service to our distribution customers.”
The New Zealand single-desk kiwifruit marketer has launched the next phase of its ‘China Strategy’ to support the growth in import volumes, which includes opening five representative offices in China and increasing staff over the coming three years.
“This expansion will be supported by new regional offices opening this year in Guangzhou, Xian and Chongqing and our in-market staff numbers are set to treble over the next few years,” Lain said. “Zespri is one of the top fruit brands in the cities where we sell and we’ll continue to invest strongly in marketing again this year to introduce more consumers to our premium product and build returns to our grower-shareholders.”
Zespri has also begun investigating opportunities to grow Zespri kiwifruit in China as part of its global supply strategy to source kiwifruit 12 months of the year.
“We are excited about the potential of partnering with Chinese growers to supply the important domestic market season with Zespri-branded kiwifruit in the long term,” Lain added. “This will support our key strategy of 12-month supply and aligns to the partnership approach we have with growers and post-harvest partners in Italy, France, Korea and Japan.”
New Zealand prime minister John Key was on hand in Shanghai to launch Zespri’s 2016 kiwifruit season on 20 April, marking the next step in Zespri’s China strategy.
Zespri’s chief operating officer Simon Limmer will be speaking at Fresh Produce Forum China in Chengdu 31 May to 2 June on the company’s strategy in China and its work to support the development of domestic production. An interview with Simon features in the April edition of Asiafruit Magazine.
