"Imported cherries are no longer considered a premium product"

Everyone knows that cherries have been very popular in China in recent years, especially during the festivities of the Chinese New Year, which are taking place at this time. However, with the imported volumes increasing each year, have there been any changes in the perception of consumers?

George Liu, CEO of Frutacloud, one of China's leading B2B fruit importers, commented on the trends surrounding cherry imports in China and how the domestic industry is evolving.

"Five or ten years ago, there were limited imports of cherries into China. Customers did not know much about this product and demand was small, with consumption concentrated in coastal cities and in middle and upper class consumer groups," explained Liu.

According to official data, about one million boxes of Chilean cherries were imported some 10 years ago, but this figure has increased to more than 30 million boxes in this current season.

Liu, however, is not surprised by this drastic increase, and attributed it to the existence of a bigger marketing channel, as well as to the fact that cherries have traditionally been considered a premium product for the Chinese New Year.

"With the development of world trade, more and more fruits are imported into China. At the same time, electronic commerce has become more important, with more people in the continent being able to buy through the Internet, so this product has quickly became present in all market channels," said Liu, who will speak on the subject at the first Global Cherry Summit in Chile, on 25 April.

Liu attributes the success of imported cherries to the high international standards, which are stricter in terms of food safety and packaging.

"Our purchasing team travels all over the world during the cherry season, and they always said that Chilean producers can eat the fruit fresh, straight from the field, without washing it. This is the result of the government enforcing strict laws to prohibit the use of pesticides and monitor the environment meticulously."

Liu added that "packing houses in other countries enforce international food safety standards. All exported cherries have a high quality and the same standards."

Taking into account how much the cherry import industry has changed in recent years, Liu offered advice to cherry exporters: Understand your customers better in order to perform better in the Chinese market.

"I usually advise cherry exporters to gather more opinions from Chinese consumers regarding packaging formats, varieties, quality, taste, etc., and to find out what kind of cherries Chinese consumers prefer. Given that imported cherries are no longer a premium item for Chinese consumers, people will pay more attention to whether the quality is good enough." There is no doubt that a large volume of sales should be based on high quality and adequate prices," concluded Liu.

With the boom of the fruit import industry in China, one might wonder where local cherry growers fit in. George commented that most domestic cherries are grown in the provinces of Shandong, Beijing, Liaoning and Shanxi, since the climates of these four provinces prove to be "particularly suitable" for the cultivation of cherries.

Liu also believes that the local sales strategy is the right one, especially given the use of 500 gram containers in several sales channels planned for this summer.

"The Chinese are prone to finish the products in one day, and they buy (cherries) daily, so small packages are the most suitable for those consumers." Also, traditional (offline) channels prefer small packages, since customers like the original small package from the producers without any repackaging," specified Liu.

Liu also added that "with China's growing demand for cherries and the development of Chinese agricultural technology, the quality of the local cherries will slowly catch up with that of imported cherries."

However, Liu remains convinced that the quality of imported cherries is still better at this time.

"First of all, in the north-west of the US, cherry trees are planted on volcanic earth, are irrigated with melting ice and have 700 obligatory hours of hibernation, which ensures the production of high quality cherries and a large volume," said Liu, who also pointed out that compared to US, China's winter period is shorter, which limits the quality of its domestic cherries.

This topic and others will be addressed during the Global Cherry Summit to be held on 25 April.

The International Cherry Seminar is an event organised by the Yentzen Group and Produce Business and is sponsored by ProChile, the Cherry Committee of Asoex and Fedefruta. The event will be held on 25 April at the convention centre of the Monticello hotel, located in San Francisco de Mostazal.