Italian marketing consortium Origine Group has secured a new strategic partnership with Chilean producer-exporter David Del Curto that it says will enable it to supply its Sweeki-branded kiwifruit for 12 months of the year.
The deal, which was revealed by Origine managing director Alberto Garbuglia at the Asiafruit Congress 2017 in Hong Kong, will see the consortium’s nine Italian founding companies joined by their first overseas partner and shareholder.
“We built a strategy that needed three things: superior quality, continuity in the market, and promotion and communication,” Garbuglia told around 400 delegates attending Asiafruit Congress, which is the annual curtain-raiser for Asia Fruit Logistica in Hong Kong.
“The consumer will be disappointed unless you can deliver their favourite product for 12 months of the year,” he commented. “This is the start of an adventure that will involve the two hemispheres.
Since its foundation two years ago, Origine’s partners have already established the group as a key supplier of high-quality kiwifruit to markets overseas under its Sweeki brand, selling around 130,000 tonnes of the fruit last year, or just under one-third of Italy’s total production.
Last season, Garbuglia noted, the group sold about 50 containers to six countries in the Far East, a market where some “very, very positive” results have prompted a further marketing push for 2017/18.
However, ensuring there is fruit available all year round has also emerged as a major priority. “It's not enough to be good and be present in the market for eight months,” Garbuglia explained.
Marcos Echenique, sales director of David Del Curto, said that working together with Italian partners AFE, Apofruit, Frutta C2, KiwiSole,Kiwi Uno, Granfrutta Zani, Pempacorer, Salvi and Spreafico was a constructive strategic decision based on more than 25 years of commercial connections with the Italian kiwifruit sector.
“For us it's really an honour to be invited to be part of this group. At David Del Curto, we also have the same view to build a year-round brand in Asia,” he commented.
“We got together in the right moment and we're very excited about developing this brand and delivering a top-quality kiwifruit in Asia for 12 months of the year. We believe the key is to have control of every stage of the supply chain. Now we are working to find the right distributors to deliver this product here in Asia.”
