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Tag: kiwifruit

  • New Zealand’s RubyRed Kiwifruit Takes Vietnam by Storm: Limited Edition, Natural Sweetness at a Premium Price

    New Zealand’s RubyRed Kiwifruit Takes Vietnam by Storm: Limited Edition, Natural Sweetness at a Premium Price

    New Zealand’s ruby-red kiwifruit has made its debut in Vietnam through formal imports, attracting high demand despite its price tag of approximately VND350,000 (US$13.29) per kilogram, which is 20% higher than the cost of gold kiwifruit. Retailers have been selling this vibrant fruit for the past fortnight, with its bold color, unique taste, and edible skin contributing to its popularity.

    Consumer Response

    Local consumers, accustomed to green or yellow kiwifruit, have expressed pleasant surprise at the fruit’s red flesh. A Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) resident, Hoa, spent VND700,000 on two boxes of the fruit, citing its sweeter and more intense taste compared to other varieties.

    Formal imports involve the shipment of goods in large quantities, subject to strict customs regulations and inspections. Another HCMC inhabitant, Lan Anh, noted that in previous years, some vendors would sporadically hand-carry the fruit into the country, selling it for approximately VND500,000. However, with the initiation of formal, large-scale imports, the fruit’s price has dropped by around 30%.

    The RubyRed Kiwifruit

    The RubyRed kiwifruit, developed by Zespri, the world’s leading kiwifruit producer, through a natural breeding program in New Zealand, is described as boasting a rich sweetness and a striking red hue, a result of anthocyanins. These antioxidant compounds are frequently found in berries. However, the supply of this variety is limited, due to a short growing season spanning only 6-8 weeks, and it yields less fruit than the gold and green variants.

    Vo Thanh Loc, the co-founder of the retail chain Farmers’ Market, revealed that Zespri’s first RubyRed kiwifruit shipment arrived in Vietnam earlier this month. The fruit has quickly become the chain’s top-selling kiwifruit variety.

    Lu Minh Quang, import director of fruit distributor Biovegi Vietnam, disclosed that the company has ordered its first shipment of approximately 80 tons for distribution in Hanoi and HCMC. Quang added that sellers are still gauging the market’s response to the fruit.

    Questions & Answers

    What sets the RubyRed kiwifruit apart from other varieties?
    The distinct red flesh, sweeter taste, and rich antioxidants make the RubyRed kiwifruit stand out from other green or yellow variants.

    What challenges are associated with the supply of the RubyRed kiwifruit?
    The fruit’s short growing season and lower yield compared to other kiwifruit varieties limit its supply.

    What impact has the formal importation of the RubyRed kiwifruit had on its pricing?
    With the initiation of large-scale, formal imports, the price of the RubyRed kiwifruit has decreased by approximately 30% compared to when it was sporadically hand-carried into the country.

  • SunGold campaign heats up in Thailand

    SunGold campaign heats up in Thailand

    Kiwifruit marketer Zespri has been rolling out the launch of its SunGold variety across a range of export markets this year, and Thailand has witnessed an energetic campaign.

    The introduction of the new variety has been supported by a robust programme of promotional activities to educate trade and consumers about SunGold’s attributes, and to drive demand.

    Zespri’s programme has included market roadshows, retail sampling activities and eye-catching point-of-sale materials, but one of its key importers Vachamon has gone the extra mile to drive the campaign.

    “What we could do to make Zespri’s marketing campaign more successful is involve ourselves in their activities,” the company’s managing director Wipavee Watcharakorn told Asiafruit. “For example, with the market roadshow, we joined in on the sampling activities. As well as the sampling company conducting tastings, we actively sold the fruit, particularly at markets where there were no existing fruit vendors.”

    Sampling activities have been conducted across numerous open-air markets around Bangkok. “These are retail markets that are close to office buildings where people go to buy lunch or other things. The markets sell a range of items such as clothes, ready-to-eat meals, gifts and so on,” Watcharakorn explained.

    For each market that was selected as a venue for the sampling activities, Vachamon targeted the owners of the existing fruit shops to demonstrate to them the value of promoting SunGold.

    “We tried to show them that SunGold has tremendous potential, and that with the right attention and effort to display and merchandise it, they could go beyond their usual sales volumes,” said Watcharakorn.

    “Usually with these fruit shops, the owner handles all the sales by him or herself and displays many products. They tend to give more importance and display space to the items that generate good sales and margins so we wanted to show them that SunGold can be the ‘hero’ product for them.”

    Watcharakorn said that after 40 days of conducting the roadshow, the uplift in wholesale demand has been remarkable during July.

    In addition to the roadshow activities, Vachamon has been supporting major retailers such as Big C, Tesco Lotus and The Mall Group with their SunGold promotions.

    “We participated and helped to ensure the retailers ordered enough fruit each week, whether they were conducting samplings or not. Sometimes retailers are very reluctant to order a lot of a new item as they want to avoid issues with shrinkage,” she said.

    “We talked to the retailers a lot and coordinated supplies with their sampling teams to ensure they had enough good-quality stock for each store to make the activities worthwhile. We made direct-to-store deliveries and followed up on the purchase orders later on.”

    Vachamon has also participated in a number of ‘below the line’ marketing events for SunGold, exhibiting at shows such as Health and Beauty and ThaiFex.

    Watcharakorn said Vachamon’s aim is to sell 120,000 trays of SunGold this season. “We are likely to hit this target, which is probably double the volume sold last year,” she concluded.

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