Walmart's sales statistics show that imported fruit is getting more and more popular among customers. In the past two years, the sales volume of imported fruit has doubled. That is why Walmart depends on large international purchases of resources and supply chain advantages. Through continuously increasing direct import, purchasing directly from the local production sites, and the strength of collaborations with suppliers, Walmart can import many different fruits, shorten the supply chain, and save intermediary costs. It is making an effort to offer customer the freshest, best and cheapest imported fruits, in order to satisfy the growing consumption demand for high quality fruit.
Winstone Chee, vice-chairman of the Fresh Food Purchase Department of Walmart in China, explains: "In the past, Walmart carefully engaged with like-minded suppliers, and focused on establishing long term strategic partners. Now, Walmart has chosen to join hands with Goodfarmer Group, a leading Chinese fruit and vegetable supplier, to release the first batch of Costa Rica pinepaples in Guangzhou stores, in order for consumers to be able to taste fresh Costa Rica pineapples even faster. In the future, based on the response from the market, we want to continue to bring Costa Rican pineapples to Walmart stores all over China."
Mr. Liu Zijie, vice-chairman of the Goodfarmer Group, states: "As one of the most important strategic partners of Goodfarmer, the long term support of Walmart, a leader in the retail industry, is an important guarantee for Goodfarmer to realize its development goals. Today, Goodfarmer and Walmart work together to release the first batch of Costa Rica pineapples. In the future, we will continue to deepen our relationship with Walmart, so we can offer tastier and healthier fresh fruits and vegetables to numerous consumers."
Costa Rica is the largest exporting country for pineapples worldwide. Its annual trade volume is approximately 1 billion dollar, and it holds 60% of the international pineapple export. The texture of their MD2 pineapples is fine, and the taste is strong. Moreover, they can be peeled easily and eaten directly. What is worth mentioning is that the Costa Rican pineapples from Goodfarmer, after clearing customs, will only take three to five days to go through Walmart's supply chain and arrive on the shelves in the stores.
Mr. He Sai, diplomatic officer of the Department of Commerce of the Costa Rica embassy in China, says: "This year, we celebrate ten years of diplomatic relations between China and Costa Rica. This first batch of Costa Rican pineapples arriving in China represents the future trade developments between our two countries." He also points out: "In China, the annual growth of the imported pineapple market is 40% to 50%. We believe that, through working closely together with a retail leader like Walmart, Goodfarmer Costa Rican pineapples will see a growth in consumption in China."
Goodfarmer Foods Holding (Group) Co., Ltd.
www.goodfarmer.com
Phone: +86 21 6978 3319
Email: xuanxuan_liu@goodfarmer.com