On January 4th, Mr. Avocado, the avocado from Mission Produce and Lantao in China, had its initial delivery via online platform JD.com’s first offline supermarket – 7Fresh in Beijing City. The new supermarket is 4,000 square meters, and is located near JD’s headquarters in the Yizhuang District of Beijing.
Packed with technology, 7Fresh includes smart shopping carts, sensor-activated product information, and integrates online and offline shopping for customers. JD’s said their first traditional offline supermarket focuses on freshness, high quality produce, and high levels of service—finding what they say is a perfect match in the values of the Mr. Avocado brand.
Since launching ripening operations in Shanghai in April 2017, the Mr. Avocado brand rolled out its distribution in the market through China’s fruit-store giant Pagoda. Based on the distribution through Pagoda and ongoing promotion and education in the market, Mr. Avocado is now widely known and accepted by China.
Following the Pagoda launch, Mr. Avocado began supplying Harbin Zhongyanghong supermarket in the summer, quickly followed by JD online, and then rising online retailer Missfresh in November.
At the beginning of 2018, Mr. Avocado is rapidly finding more opportunities in the market through various supermarket and online channels.
Mr. Avocado developed customized boxes for the launch of 7Fresh. The box was engineered specifically to fit 4 large avocados and designed to stand out in the 7Fresh retail environment. The bold color and graphic design delighted customers and included educational materials to demonstrate how to cut an avocado and included seasonal recipes for Chinese New Year.
The first-day of sales were impressive, according to John Wang, President & CEO of Mr. Avocado. “We wanted to make a strong impression with consumers at 7Fresh, and our full package with recipes, how-to guides and nutritional information really did the job. We were very pleased with the sales volume, and the opportunity to continue to educate the Chinese consumer on all the benefits of the avocado.”
In the future, Mr. Avocado plans to find additional opportunities to continue its brand development, through distribution channels that provide opportunities to promote a healthy lifestyle that includes avocados in daily Chinese diets.
For more information:
Robb Bertels
Mission Produce
+1 (805) 981-3650