Afrucat, the Business Association of Fruit of Catalonia, and the sales office of ACCIÓ in Singapore have organized a trade mission to Singapore and Malaysia this September. The mission, funded by ACCIÓ, will have an agenda with meetings with local business contacts, large importers and distributors, purchase centers, distribution chain purchasing managers, and big brokers of fruit.
Four companies associated with Afrucat: Fruilar, Frutaria, Nufri and Viyefruit will participate in this mission by presenting fresh fruit (apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, flat peaches and plums), citrus and grapes.
The organizers also plan to conduct a study tour to visit malls and markets, so the participants can see the market firsthand, the fruits that are consumed, display formats and prices.
Afrucat has organized this mission based on the concepts of internationalization and opening new markets stemming from FruitStrategic, which had already led the Association to organize a seminar of fresh fruit in Asia with the collaboration of ACCIÓ last year. In this seminar, the opportunities to export fresh fruit to Asia were analyzed, as well as the opportunity to compare this fruit in situ was explored, as the Spanish and Catalan presence is still very small in the Asian market, despite its high potential.
At present, Spain is in the last position among the top 10 exporters of apples and pears in Singapore's market, which are dominated by China and South Africa. Regarding peaches, plums, and citrus, Spain ranks fifth in a group led by the US and Malaysia (in the case of mandarins). Currently these exports do not exceed 300,000 kilos per specie, which represents a great opportunity for growth.
Asia Fruit Logistica
Coinciding with the trade mission, 6 Catalan companies (Actel, Sinergia, and the 4 companies in the mission,) will be present for the first time in Asia Fruit Logistica. The fair, which will be held in Hong Kong from September 2 to 4, aims at becoming the meeting point for traders from Southeast Asia; emulating the success of the well established Fruit Logistica in Berlin.
The companies from Afrucat will participate in the fair at a group booth from ICEX with other associations and also with FEPEX.
Opportunities in the Asian market
The main and most interesting characteristics of the Asian market for Catalonian exports focus on its large population, the purchasing power of its extensive middle class, and their high regard for fruits.
The interest displayed by Asian importers for products they consider exotic, such as peaches, nectarines and flat peaches, fruits that can be considered gourmet products, is also important.
Hong Kong and Singapore are importers and re-exporters. They have a high domestic consumption and no production. Hong Kong is a market with 7.5 million people and more than 48 million tourists a year. Additionally, it is a well-established logistics center for imports and re-exports to mainland China.
Singapore is considered the main gateway to the region of Southeast Asia and has a bigger GDP than the countries that surround it, including Spain. It is the largest transshipment hub in the world with more than 600 connection ports and 120 countries, forwarding 85% of the containers that arrive there to a third destination. Singapore receives more than 300 weekly cargo flights from over 100 airlines flying to 220 cities. It has 6 container terminals and 80,000 daily movements of containers.