Members of the Italian fresh produce export trade have completed a special visit to Malaysia and Indonesia, where they were able to meet with leading importers and retail buyers.
The visit, which follows a similar exploratory mission in 2014, was organised by Italian fresh produce marketing and research agency Centro Servizi Ortofrutticoli in response to growing interest among Malaysian and Indonesian buyers in sourcing key fresh fruit lines from the Mediterranean country.
Those lines include apples, table grapes, kiwifruit, cherries and oranges.
According to CSO’s Federico Milanese, who led the delegation, getting first-hand experience of the two Asian markets and learning more about their specific tastes and demands when it comes to fresh produce – for example, consumers’ tendency towards favouring small sizes of apple – made the trip an invaluable exercise.
“These kinds of activity are of fundamental importance for CSO and its members because they give us the chance to develop an in-depth knowledge of emerging markets, opening up new opportunities to diversify export markets for our products by getting ahead of the game and reinforcing relationships with the country’s key players, who will certainly be at the centre of international growth in the coming years,” Milanese commented.
Present on the tour were representatives from suppliers Apofruit and Cherry Passion, as well as packaging firm Infia and trade fair Macfrut.
Indonesia and Malaysia have a combined estimated population of more than 280m people, with Indonesia’s projected 255m people in 2015 making it the fourth-largest country in the world behind China, India and the US.
