Although the Chinese and South East Asian markets are open for business, trading there is still difficult due to most countries being in some form of lockdown and importer's confidence is subdued.
“People are nervous to put money into fruit that’s not on the water as they don’t know whether they will be able to sell it because markets are uncertain to when lockdowns will finish,” according to Andrew Grantham from Kingfisher Fresh International based in Taiwan. “There is a big change in the markets with more e-commerce emerging as wholesale and street markets have been forced to close, importers are having to change the way they do business. Consumers are now buying directly online with every form of social media and using delivery services as they don’t have the ability to go out and purchase these products anymore.”
Andrew said that importers are hesitant as to what they want to bring in and tend to favour core products that they know people will buy, the niche products or different varieties which they are not familiar with and especially high value products are not so popular.
China is open but in the last couple of weeks there have been reports that a tide of new cases of Covid 19 have emerged, a second lock down in some provinces would add to the uncertainty in the market.
Earlier in the year less was shipped to China due to the crisis there but now there is a lot of fruit on the water heading for China.
“In Taiwan everything is still open and there is no lock down just social distancing measures. The market is still buoyant as people can still go out and purchase produce at the local wet markets and supermarkets, but the whole Asian market is difficult, and supply is also an issue. With the citrus from South Africa they are having issues with logistics/shipping and the cost of shipping from Egypt escalated phenomenally, this is in addition to the problems of getting the fruit picked packed under lock downs.
“Under the current conditions it is not always possible to send the fruit to your desired market, so you may have to send it to an alternative destination which is not ideal, as maybe the size or varieties are not preferred there. Premium fruit will usually find its way to the right markets though as it is worth the cost to get it there.
“In China a lot of the premium fruit is sold to hotels which catered for international clientele so if these are not open and there are no tourists it will have a massive affect as dine in services are not offered, also locals who have been used to be able to afford premium fruit may be buying cheaper local fruit as they come out of lockdown and a period of not earning and face an uncertain future.”
Andrew acts as a facilitator to take fruit from suppliers to buyers in China, Malaysia and Taiwan. Being based in Taiwan gives him the advantage of being in the same time zone and a having a good understanding of culture and buying habits in Asia. “This is still the same and nothing has really changed with my current customers, but the downside is that same as everyone else, I can’t travel to go and see my clients. Normally if there were any issues or meetings I would go and see the importers as I’m only a couple of hours away.”
For more information:
Andrew Grantham
Kingfisher Fresh International
Tel: +886 966025710
+44 7703727159
Email: [email protected]
www.kingfisherfresh.com