The small plastic cups with cut fruit have been popular in overseas markets for years. Consumers can find them in nearly every large supermarket. However, the Chinese market is only just opening up for this new concept. Mr. Wang, spokesperson for Jie Xiang Fast Cut Fruit Mix recently shared his insight in the current conditions of the Chinese market for fruit cups and his expectations for future market trends.
"We believe that the cups with cut fruit have huge potential in the Chinese market. First, the pace of living is speeding up and many consumers do not have time to wash and cut their own fruit at home. This is particularly true for more difficult to cut fruits such as jackfruit, durian, and pineapple. Second, consumers are unable to finish larger fruits in one sitting and much of the fruit will spoil, which adds unnecessary cost. A growing number of consumers prefers to buy small quantities of fruit. Third, Chinese consumers have more disposable income, which allows them to pay more attention to the convenience of their fruit, rather than the price. Small cups of cut fruit are much easier to carry into the cinema or the arcade," said Mr. Wang.
"Take the jackfruit for example, the surface area devoted to jackfruit in Jiaxing Wholesale Fruit Market is around 4-5 thousand square meter and the trade volume is significant, but the consumers in the supermarket almost always purchase small pieces of jackfruit. Only around 3%-5% of the customers purchase whole jackfruit. Most of the pieces of jackfruit are sold in fruit stores, and these stores almost always purchase them from processing factories," said Mr. Wang. "At the moment, wholesale dealers purchase the fruit from production areas, transport the fruit to the wholesale market, and then sell the fruit to retailers. However, the retailers first transport the fruit to processing factories, where the fruit is cut, before the fruit is transported to stores for retail. I believe that this supply chain will become much simpler in the future. The processing factories will purchase directly from production areas and then sell the processed fruit directly to wholesale dealers."
"The number of processing factories in China specialized in cutting fruit is still quite small. Cutting fruit may seem simple, but requires a high level of technology. The processing line includes inspection and identification of ripe fruit, cold disinfection technology, cleaning technology, injection of preservative gas, and the raw material required for packaging. These are all key elements in the production of cut fruit," said Mr. Wang. "The shelf-life of cut fruit is relatively short and is therefore not suitable for long-distance transport. We therefore established processing factories in many major cities across China. These processing factories usually rely on major, first-tier wholesale markets for supply of raw fruit. For example, we purchase from Jiaxing Fruit World, Guangzhou Jiangnan Market, Shanghai Huizhan Market, and Beijing Xinfadi Market. Each processing factory distributes in a radius of 3-5 hundred km. We can supply all consumers within that radius with fresh fruit for the day."
When asked about the market price trends, Mr. Wang replied, "the cost price of raw fruit is relatively low, transport is efficient, and processing is swift. We skip over many intermediaries. The wholesale price of fruit is much lower than the retail price of fruit. Take the jackfruit for example, the retail price is around 25-28 yuan [3.52-3.95 USD] per box of 300 gr, but we only pay around 10 yuan [1.41 USD] for the same quality of jackfruit bought in large volumes from the wholesale market. After we process the jackfruit, the price is around 20 yuan [2.82 USD]."
Jie Xiang Swift Cut Fruit has three main client groups: fast food restaurant chains such as KFC, convenience store chains such as 7-11, and beverage store chains such as Xicha and Starbucks. "If the employees of these stores are required to cut the fruit themselves, they will waste a lot of time and manpower, which will greatly reduce the profit margin. I therefore expect more and more businesses to choose direct purchase of cut fruit from processing factories. We are looking for retailers throughout the country who are interested in cooperation."
For more information:
Mr. Wang - Manager
Jiangsu Jie Guo Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd.
Tel.: +86 18606112777
E-mail: thomas.wang@jgroup360.com