Innovation for Australian Stonefruit key in China

Facing a tough consumer market in China and increased shipping costs Australian stonefruit is innovating and bringing new brands to market.

Chinese consumers, in the face of continued economic uncertainty brought by the pandemic, have tended to look to buy more value-for-money and locally grown fruit. This has also has made importers more cautious and decreased purchases of imported fruit.

Wholesalers have told us that Australian nectarines and peaches have been generally good quality this year - with better sweetness and depth of flavour. However, with Australian stonefruit necessarily retailing at premium price points the industry is taking positive steps to further ensure minimum quality standards and bring new innovations in terms of branding, packaging and promotion to the market.

On 14 January a new nectarine brand, Topa, was launched in Shanghai to an audience of wholesalers and retailers. These Majestic Pearl necarines, grown by six growers in Australia must meet minimum standards of size, sweetness (mimimum 13 Brix) and colour to qualify for the Topa brand. The launch is backed up by point of sale material and on-line marketing and key influencers. It is already selling in Shanghai fruit retailers.

We believe that going forward all Australian fruit industries will need to bring more innovation to this increasingly competitive market.