“There are currently fewer categories of imported fruit on the market and the volume available is limited. There are only a few categories imported from the West such as South African tangerines, American oranges, and cherries, as well as a few products imported from the East such as durians from southern Thailand,” Mr. Liang Shisheng, manager of FreshJN said.
“There are mainly two reasons for the sluggish import fruit market. Firstly, large volumes of seasonal fruits grown in China are flooding on to the market and consumers have more choices. Secondly, the consumption power post- Covid-19 still needs to be restored and the purchasing power for imported fruits without rigid demand has reduced."
“For locally grown fruits, the Covid-19 pandemic has led purchasers to go bankrupt or suspend their business while products they had ordered last year are left in the place of origin without being harvested. The poor market conditions in the place of origin have affected the supply and demand on the market and brought prices down,” Mr. Liang said. "Overall, the recent fruit market is slightly worse than in the same period in previous years."
"The two waves of Covid-19 cases were both initially discovered in a wholesale market, which has also triggered discussions within the industry. Everyone, From the government to fruit traders, is concerned about how to better conduct online wholesale business and help traditional wholesale markets to carry out conversions and upgrades,” Mr. Liang said.
"Although the market is now fully open as the outbreak eases, people have in the past few months developed the habit of shopping online. While the offline sales channels are gradually recovering, the volume of our online orders has not reduced notably. From a customer's perspective, online sales have reduced the stages of distribution, which in turn has ensured the transparency of operation and product quality while reducing costs. At the same time, diverse fruit products have brought greater choices to customers and allowed purchasers to make one-stop purchases. Therefore, I believe that the business model where fruit traders carry out online wholesale and consumers buy from online stores will become a trend of development for the fruit industry in the future.”
FreshJN, a B2B e-commerce platform for fresh produce was officially launched in August 2017. Customers who purchase through this platform include fruit shops, supermarkets, second-tier wholesalers, restaurants, and other businesses with large demand. The transaction volume of the platform has quadrupled in just two years. The main markets that FreshJN serves so far include Guangdong, Hunan, and Chongqing.
"In today’s Internet era, there are more and more companies that are able to facilitate B2B transactions, but few are able to operate as a platform. The challenge we face is to change everyone’s wholesale trading habits from the past so that more buyers and sellers could experience the advantages of e-commerce platforms,” Mr. Liang said.
More Information:
Contact: Liang Shisheng
Company: FreshJN
Tel.: +86 135 9028 3910
Email: shisheng.liang@freshjn.com