Chelan Fresh, He Cheng Feng, and Frutacloud organized a festive opening ceremony in Shanghai Huizhan Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Market on the 15th of December for the opening of the 2021 SugarBee® apple season. In addition, Frutacloud opened the first shipping container of SugarBee® apples of the season in Guangzhou Jiangnan Market in late December. Sales in Shanghai and Guangzhou proceeded in tandem. Two weeks into the sales season, Frutacloud CEO Liu Zirui introduced this product variety and talked about the market conditions.
This is not the first time SugarBee® apples enter the Chinese market. Frutacloud displayed this apple variety during the first Import Expo in 2018. "It is important to note that the festive opening ceremony in Shanghai was the first official press event that we have organized for SugarBee® apples in China," said Liu Zirui. "Although we are in the middle of a pandemic and shipping fees are soaring, the first two shipping containers we shipped to China were cleared at customs and distributed without problems or delays."
"The first container arrived on the 10th of December. We already sold the apples from this container in wholesale markets and they are now available in large supermarket chains such as Hema, Kaishike, Piao Piao, Metro Supermarkets, and City Super. The first shipping container is completely sold out. The apples come in two different gift boxes. The box of eight large apples costs 150 yuan [23.52 USD] and the box of eight small apples costs 98 yuan [15.36 USD]."
When asked about market prospects for the next few weeks, Zheng Jiaqi, a spokesperson for Shanghai Jinguo Trade and He Cheng Feng Fruit Industry, replied: "Chinese Spring Festival [1 February, 2022] is approaching. We have been very optimistic about recent market conditions. Our supplier Chelan Fresh has already loaded three shipping containers with SugarBee® apples. And we will continue to synchronize our import plans with Chelan Fresh."
Frutacloud is optimistic about the Chinese market potential of SugarBee® apples. "The product value of this variety is very high. The apples are smooth and round. And they are a bright red that stands out. The SugarBee® apple is closely related to the Honeycrisp apple. The SugarBee® apple inherited the sweet honey flavor, high sugar content, and crispness from the Honeycrisp apple. Moreover, the SugarBee® apple turned out even better than the Honeycrisp apple. Perhaps more important, the supply season of SugarBee® apples covers Christmas, New Year, and Spring Festival. The bright red apple is very suitable for these holidays, and that is a major business opportunity for SugarBee® apples," said Liu Zirui.
Frutacloud purposefully packaged the SugarBee® apples in packages of eight and aimed for the holiday sales season. When asked about the packaging design, Liu Zirui explained: "We wanted to maintain the brand visual, but also play up the festive red color for the holidays. The background consists of honeycomb patterns that cover the entire package. This design indicates that the entire box is filled with a sweet honey-like fragrance and flavor. On the side we added the 'Price-Look-Up Code' (PLU) in an image that stands out from the background and further strengthens the honey-comb pattern."
For more information:
Frutacloud
Tel.: +86 21 6266 1830
E-mail: contact@frutcacloud.com
Website: http://www.frutacloud.com