Chinese fresh produce import/export company Goodfarmer is planning to open offices in the US and Europe, building on the procurement hubs it has recently established in Ecuador and Chile.
Goodfarmer’s chairman Liu Zijie told Asiafruit that the company is still exploring suitable sites for its new subsidiaries in the US and Europe, but he confirmed that he expects to open offices in both regions in the near future.
Eager to expand its global footprint and secure consistent supplies to meet the rapidly growing demand for imported fruits in China, Goodfarmer recently set up branches in Chile and Ecuador.
In late August, Goodfarmer opened a Chilean office in Rancagua, which is located in the O’Higgins region, 78km of Santiago, according to Liu. Francisco Saez Correa, who previously spent five years as export manager at major Chilean grower-packer-marketer San Francisco Lo Garces, is running the operation.
“Our Chilean office is focused on helping us to develop our sourcing of grapes, cherries, blueberries and apples,” explained Liu. “Francisco is also working to develop our imports from Peru.”
Goodfarmer has also set up a branch in Ecuador, which has rapidly developed into the leading source of banana imports for the company, overtaking the Philippines.
“We’re now buying 80 containers of bananas a week from Ecuador, up from just 10 containers per week 12 months ago, and we’re working with around seven different suppliers,” said Liu. “We decided to establish our own base there to further develop our connections with exporters.”
Goodfarmer’s Bob Li is running the representative office with the support of local staff, he explained.
Bananas form the backbone of Goodfarmer’s import business, and while the company also has an office in the Philippines, the South East Asian exporting country has faced supply setbacks over recent months. “We’ve been sourcing around 50-60 containers a week from the Philippines, but there has been a shortage and prices have gone up,” said Liu.
“Ecuador has enough product available, which gives us the opportunity to source from there, and we have been impressed with the quality and shelf-life. They have better quality than the Philippines and people in northern China prefer Ecuadorian bananas.”
While Goodfarmer’s operations in the Philippines, Ecuador, Chile are representative offices, he said the company is planning to register fully fledged local companies in these countries to facilitate the recruitment of local staff in the near future.
Brand-building
Goodfarmer’s longer-term goal is to develop a kind of multinational status, Liu explained. The company wants to work with grower-packers to ship fruits under the Goodfarmer brand, for which he has big ambitions.
“Our focus over the next three or four years is to develop the Goodfarmer brand at a trade level, but in five to ten years’ time we’d like it build it into a consumer brand,” said Liu.
One of Goodfarmer’s key strengths in China, he noted, is the sales and distribution network it can offer global suppliers.
“We have distribution hubs in all the major centres in China –Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai, and we recently moved into our new head office in Shanghai,” Liu detailed. “We are also opening a distribution and banana ripening facility in Shenyang in November, which has the capacity to handle 30 containers a week.”
That network also extends to the markets where Goodfarmer has established a strong position for its brand as an exporter of Chinese apples and other fruits, notably the Middle East, South East Asia and India, Liu added.
“We’d like to be able to supply our customers in the Middle East and South East Asia with fruit from Chile under the Goodfarmer brand,” he explained.
