Falling on 12 September, the timing of this year's Moon Festival is earlier than in 2009 and 2010, when it came round on 3 October and 22 September respectively. As ever, the shift in dates results in winners and losers among suppliers of key products, depending on their timing of their seasons.
Across several key Asian markets, the date of the Moon Festival remains a key fixture on the calendar on the fresh fruit trade, particularly in China.
“Fresh fruit is always a vital part of the Moon Festival celebrations,” says Jason Bosch of Shanghai-based importer Origin Direct Asia. “Consumption increases significantly and a lot of fruit baskets are exchanged as gifts.'
Red Globe grapes, Royal Gala apples, cherries and pears are some of the popular items for the festivities, according to John Wang of Chinese import company Lantao.
South African citrus on course
Based on the timing of this year’s festival, South African citrus and Thai exotic fruits could be grabbing the limelight, according to Raymond Jin of major importer-distributor Golden Wing Mau.
Mr Bosch echoes this view while cautioning that South Africa must be careful not to oversupply the market. “While `the Moon Festival is` earlier, the timing is still good for South African citrus as the peak arrival weeks are starting now,” he told Fruitnet.com. “We have some concerns on the increased volumes of South African citrus heading to this market over the next few weeks. Slow European sales and a poor Russian market have seen many growers looking towards Asia and the port congestion will result in big spikes in volumes.'
With South Africa steering more fruit to Asia, Mr Bosch highlights a need for “better information” in the country's citrus industry on the volume shipments heading to various markets. “The days of keeping this information secret are long gone and we need to stop the speculation around this topic,” he commented.
US cherries could also benefit from the earlier Moon Festival this year, according to Mr Wang. Mr Bosch concurs, adding that Canadian cherries should also enjoy stronger demand. “Washington cherries are expected to be finished by the end of August but hopefully the seafreight arrivals will benefit,” said Mr Bosch.
Late US grapes miss window
California grapes, however, are likely to lose out from the earlier timing, especially given that their own season is running late. While that technically opens the way to Mexico to capitalise given its earlier-running season, Mr Bosch said that its previous performance in China does not augur well for substantial volumes from the Central American source.
“The Mexican Red Globe lacks the desired colour and firmness that we’ve seen in the US, Chile and Peru lately and I think there’s some work to be done on the production side as well as a marketing campaign before they start to gain traction in the market,” he commented.
China’s own grape production could be sought to fill the breach, and Mr Wang noted that an earlier Moon Festival is not great for imported fruits in general, because higher volumes of seasonal domestic fruits are still in the market.
Japanese Nashi pears, another key festive fruit in gift baskets or boxes, will also struggle to land in large numbers in time for the event, according to Asta Wong of Calfruits. “Supplies will be limited, so what little fruit is available will be expensive,” she said.
Premium fruits to prosper
On a brighter note, Ms Wong feels that premium fruits such as cherries, blueberries and strawberries will feature more strongly in gift baskets this year given the booming economic conditions.
Mr Jin also anticipates some issues with availability of key imported fruits for the major festival. “This is one of the reasons the timing is bad this year,” he complained. “The other reason is it means we’ve got an 18-day-gap between the Moon Festival and the National Day Holiday, which will bring down sales. Normally the two holidays are quite close, which helps to enlarge the sales.”
Despite the difficulties with timing, Mr Jin sees no sign of the festival’s importance waning and he feels that suppliers can do more in terms of their marketing efforts in order to capitalise. “It’s important to offer small or beautiful packaging for gifting purposes, especially with products like cherries or grapes,” he noted.
Mr Bosch also sees the festive demand evolving and moving with the times. “Online sales of fruit and Moon Cake hampers are beginning to become more prolific,” he observed.
