E-commerce drives the growth of Mexican avocado in China
China has been positioning itself as the next great destination for many categories of fresh produce. For Mexican avocados it has not been different. APEAM, the association of producers, avocado packers from Mexico, said they saw a 300% growth in sales compared to the 2018 promotional period in Tmall, an e-commerce platform that distributes the product.
China
China is a market with a lot of potential for avocados from Mexico despite the great distance (shipments take 20 to 30 days to arrive by ship).
“We have learned that, when it comes to avocado, Mexico is by far the most mentioned origin in social networks and in the press. The main issues that interest the Chinese population are the benefits for health, for beauty; It is mentioned a lot as the ideal food for babies who are learning to eat fruits in porridge, ”they explained. Despite this, there is still a great lack of knowledge in terms of consumption.
“The way to choose and prepare it is still unknown. In the daily life of the Chinese consumer, avocado is still something rare and exotic and many times they don’t know how to consume it, ”they said. “Hence the importance of education to develop avocado consumption and culture. The consumptions we have observed are at breakfast and lunch or as a snack in shakes before or after a physical workout, ”they added.
Regarding the product packaging, from Apeam they pointed out that “the Chinese have paid attention to multi-pack packaging with striking designs and mature product, ready to eat.” In that line, it is something to consider at the moment of entering the market.
Tmall case
Héctor Zhang, Chief of Imports of the Fresh Food Unit of Tmall, of the Alibaba Group, informed Apeam that “in the 3-day [promotion] campaign the objective of selling 500 thousand units of Mexican avocados was met; the avocado from Mexico ranked second in the volume of fruit sales in Tmall, and, the record of avocado sales was broken. ” In addition, “in the 2 hours of live broadcasting at the Consulate General of Mexico in Hong Kong, 100,000 Mexican avocados were sold, which represented three times the target set by the organizers and the promotional boxes were sold out.”
The above helps to demonstrate the potential that China has as a market for this category. And it has mobilized Tmall’s interest in carrying out a new campaign to promote Mexican avocado on the eve of the Chinese New Year (second half of January 2020).
Other markets
From the association they indicated that “the United States market continues with an upward consumption, as do the international markets”. In that sense, they continue within the projected. Regarding variations in projections, they indicated that there have been no significant changes in the estimates.
“The season has developed without any setback. From the beginning of the season, week 27 to week 40, we have a record of 297,547 tons exported, with an average balance of 21,790 tons per week ”.
Increase
Shipments to the US In tons reported by APEAM, which is the cooperating partner with instances of Mexico and that country for the export of Mexican avocado (Michoacán is the only state that does) in the 2018-2019 season were 914,530 tons. The above implied a 5.23% increase in the volume sent compared to last season. In turn, in terms of hectares harvested, in the 2018-19 season they were 1,047,730 hectares.
