Leaders from across the fresh produce industry gathered in Shenzhen earlier this week to mark the 20th birthday of Chinese group Joy Wing Mau.
The celebration included a lavish function on Sunday evening (7 January), with guests from Capespan, Hortifrut, T&G Global, Driscoll’s and Zespri, along with representatives from the New Zealand, Australian, Chilean, and US embassies among those in attendance.
From humble beginnings in 1998, with only a handful of staff and one delivery truck, Joy Wing Mau has evolved into one of China’s preeminent fresh fruit companies, with an annual turnover of almost RMB10bn in 2017.
It owns over 50 demonstration production bases in China, along with six orchards abroad. The company distributes 2,000 tonnes of fresh fruit everyday through seven major distribution centres and 40 secondary distribution centres. This produce supplies 5,000 retail stores, 10,000 fruit shops and almost 10m consumers daily.
A pioneer in China’s direct fruit import trade, Joy Wing Mau introduced Capespan as shareholder in 2011. In 2016 it purchased a 19.99 per cent share of T&G Global and set up a joint venture with Hortifrut.
Having completed a series of innovative deals like these, Joy Wing Mau is looking to the future with a strong sense of optimism.
The company has set the goal of reaching RMB50bn in annual turnover by 2022, by which time it also hopes to be a top 500 listed company in China.
“We expect in the next 20 years, our company will become a world-class ‘sharer of fruit value chain’; become a leading fruit company with an annual turnover of RMB100bn; become a brand deeply rooted in our consumers' lives; become a major contributor to China and even the world’s fruit industry. I’m in full confidence to realise that,” explained Mau Wah Liu, chairman of Joy Wing Mau at the reception.
