During the second day of activities, the public-private delegation led by the Chilean Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Furche, travelled to the city of Hangzhou, China, where they held an important meeting with the heads of Alibaba Group. The goal of the meeting was to expand the joint actions to promote Chilean products.
"The opportunities to grow in the Chinese market are endless," stated Furche. The highest authority of Chilean agriculture was accompanied by the national director of SAG, Angel Sartori; the president of Asoex, Ronald Bown; the president of Chilenut, Juan Luis Vial, and the general manager of Asprocer, Rodrigo Castañón, who also highlighted the opportunities opened by the meeting, as they are aware that e-commerce platforms in China are a growing channel for the marketing and promotion of Chilean food products. This business model currently has over 360 million users.
After the meeting with the vice president of Alibaba Group, Brian Wong, the Minister of Agriculture stated that the relationship that has developed with Alibaba "will allow Chinese consumers to explore and show their interest in the attributes of Chilean food products, thereby boosting their consumption." He added that marketing through Alibaba's digital platforms "is a very interesting experience for the e-commerce between Chile and the world."
Alibaba and Chilean fruit
On 25 August 2015, in the framework of Chile Week, Direcon signed a cooperation agreement with T-Mall (Alibaba Group) in order to facilitate the direct sale of Chilean products in China through the group's various online portals.
In this context, the Fruit Exporters Association of Chile AG (ASOEX) reached a special agreement with T-Mall to promote Chilean fruit, thus becoming the first Chilean private sector entity to make such agreements with Alibaba Group. The agreement was intended to facilitate direct online sales of Chilean fruits, especially blueberries and cherries, in China.
The deal between ASOEX and T-Mall was signed during the Global Shopping Festival 2015, held in the city of Hangzhou, headquarters of the Chinese e-commerce giant, and focused on the promotion of cherries and Chilean blueberries during the Singles Day Festival, a marketing initiative of T-Mall, designed to promote consumption of fruits through the Internet. Since its inception, in 2009, this day has also been known as the Double 11, since it is held every 11 November.
Ronald Bown, president of ASOEX, stressed the importance of the agreement with Alibaba and of the promotion of Chilean fruit during the Double 11, because "it is the largest promotional event on the Internet; in fact, in 2014, the commercial transactions carried out on all Alibaba portals during that single day were worth 9,300 million dollars."
Bown added that, with this agreement, Chilean cherries and blueberries were purchased on-line through T-Mall during the Double 11, with the product arriving in late November or early December; it was a promotion that served to announce the availability of these domestic fruits and the start of the season for Chilean cherries and blueberries in China.
"The activities carried out with T-Mall are a positive way to advertise our fruits, including their quality and safety, to millions of Chinese consumers, who are customers of T-Mall," explained the president of ASOEX.
The official added that China is the main destination for Chilean cherries in Asia and also at global level. During the 2014-2015 season, Chile exported a total of 103,081 tonnes of fresh cherries to various destination markets; of this volume, 85,013 tonnes were intended for Asia and China was its main market.
Meanwhile, according to the Minagri, trade with China, particularly in fruit, has registered a significant development in recent years. If we don't take mining and cellulose into account, fruit exports stand out with an annual average growth of 73% in 2005-2014, totalling a record $ 744 million exported last year. The sharp increase when comparing this year's figures with those achieved before the FTA came into force ten years ago is mostly the result of the performance of grapes, plums, cherries and blueberries.