Canada is shaping up to be an important market for Australian fresh fruit exporters with considerable potential for future volume growth as consumers become better acquainted with the country’s top quality offer.
That’s the view of Wayne Prowse, export development manager at Horticulture Australia (HAL), who says the success of Australian pears and citrus sales have paved the way for the entry of new Australian fruit categories such as stonefruit and cherries which launched in western Canada for the first time last season.
“Although Canada is a smaller market for Australia, overall there are some good opportunities for stonefruit and cherries, which will build on the already strong demand for Australian pears and citrus,” Mr Prowse tells Americafruit Magazine. “Canada has one of the world’s highest per capita consumption of fresh produce thanks to marketing support for the produce sector, so the potential for growth is considerable.”
Together with opportunities to increase pear exports (Canada consumes a large volume of pears during the Northern Hemisphere season), Mr Prowse says the expansion of Australia’s position on the Canadian market will be complemented largely by stonefruit and cherries, the first consignments of which were shipped at the end of last year.
“Volume was very small but customers liked the quality of our fruit and we are confident that the stonefruit and cherry trade will grow,” he explains. “It has only been two seasons and the results for 2008/09 are not yet complete but I expect export development will be slow and steady as customers become acquainted with the quality of Australia’s offer. It will take some time, however, since Australia will not be competing on low price points. But if we are to go by the interest shown at the Fruit Logistica trade show in Berlin at the beginning of February then Canadian consumers will surely come to enjoy our varieties.”
Australia exports mainly citrus, pears, stonefruit and mangoes to Canada. According to importers, Australian produce scores highly among Canadian consumers for its taste, presentation and competitiveness in comparison to other Southern Hemisphere suppliers.
While acceptance is high, Mr Prowse says it is unlikely additional Australian fruits will enter the Canadian market in the near future, rather, he says, growth is set to come from achieving the highest level of consumer satisfaction through understanding market needs, consumer preferences for varieties, delivery systems (to ensure supply chain integrity) and promotional support.
Already, in western Canada, Australia is the leading supplier of pears (with a 74 per cent share of the market) and citrus (51 per cent share) during the Southern Hemisphere supply season. Canada is currently the largest destination for Australian pears and about eighth largest for citrus.
“Canada has similar supply chain structures to Australia and we enjoy working with the Canadian importers, plus they like our produce,” notes Mr Prowse. “We also have more market access for our fruit than in the US. Western Canada of course is the main destination for Australian produce since the cost to transport to the eastern region is prohibitive. We can ship to the West Coast in 21 days whereas it is much longer to transport fruit to the East Coast by ship and expensive to truck to the East from Vancouver.”
The main supply chain in Canada for Australian fruit is through importers to retailers, according to Mr Prowse, with some smaller distribution to foodservice wholesalers. At a retail level, HAL provides promotional support with the aim of raising the profile and awareness of Australian produce among consumers when certain fruits are in season.
“HAL supports various Australian produce exporters and their importers in the drive to raise the profile of Australian produce with in-store promotions and PR activities during various seasons,” Mr Prowse explains. “From December to February we concentrate on stonefruit and cherries; followed by pears during March to May; Navel oranges from July to September; and concluding with mangoes during November and December.”
Crop-wise, Australia is looking forward to a bountiful production season for all major categories supplied to the Canadian market. “It’s early days for the pear season but at this stage demand through forward orders looks to be up to 10 per cent higher than last year,” Mr Prowse reveals. “Product quality from the Victoria growing area is also excellent, plus, the exchange rate variation has helped Australia to become more competitive than we were in 2008.”
In the citrus category, Australian suppliers are anticipating a very good season from July onwards following a slight easing of drought conditions in the country. Meanwhile, the mango season (which starts in October) is forecast to be one of the largest ever, with trees now ready to produce a bumper crop following two years of low bearing.
Expansion in Australia’s stonefruit industry and, in particular the cherry sector, will also translate into above average yields from December onwards, according to HAL, providing no major late frosts and adverse weather conditions come into play.
