Cherish™ apple, the new exciting variety from New Zealand exported exclusively by Golden Bay Fruit (GBF), was launched with great success in Asia this July, with promotions taking place across Tesco Lotus in Thailand and Big C in Vietnam, after only one season of commercial harvest of the fruit.
“The Cherish™ apple delighted all customers who had the chance to taste it,” says GBF managing director Heath Wilkins. “Customers showed great interest in the fruit, asking plenty of questions about its origin and characteristics.”
The first commercial volumes of Cherish™ have been harvested over the current 2018 season, with around 100,000 pieces of fruit exported from GBF’s orchards in Motueka, on New Zealand’s South Island.
Production is expected to rise significantly in 2019, with ten-times more fruit to come directly from GBF orchards alone. “Onwards, volumes should grow rapidly,” Patrick Meikle, GBF’s Global Sales & Marketing Manager, notes.
Cherish™ apples have been exported across the globe this season, more particularly in Asian markets such as China, Thailand, Singapore and now Vietnam due to strong and growing demand for premium and sweet apples like Cherish™.
To support the launch, dedicated sampling sessions have been organised by GBF in close collaboration with large retailers across Asia.
“This also gave us the opportunity to gain consumers’ feedback on Cherish™”, says Julien Baumann, GBF’s Business Development Manager for South East Asia. “The feedback was extremely positive with customers enjoying its sweet tropical taste, and the intense pink colour of its skin!
Some of the sampling had to be postponed as stores were running out of fruits due to the higher than expected demand.”
Golden Bay Fruit opens its Singapore office
After the success of UK office opened 5 years ago, New Zealand (NZ)-headquartered Golden Bay Fruit (GBF) has decided to replicate this strategy in South East Asia (SEA) to better serve its customers in the region.
The Singapore office went live on 1st June 2018.
“This illustrates the strong focus of GBF to be closer to its customers across the globe and provide better and customized services”, says Julien Baumann, GBF’s new SEA Business Development Manager, who will be based there.
Julien Baumann has got a 6 years’ experience in import-export business and was previously the head of food imports at Central Group Vietnam. He will initially be focused on managing and developing GBF’s business in the region’s key markets, as well as launching and developing its new exciting varieties, which include Cherish™ apple, Piqa®Boo pear, and its soon to be named sweet green apple variety. “All of these varieties have been received very positively by our customers in all markets, and we are impatient to make it memorable”, says Julien.
Golden Bay Fruit will be at Asia Fruit Logistica Hall 5c-M02
For more information:
Julian Baumann