Kiwi market in Brazil is not impacted during the pandemic and grows 23%

Despite the worsening of the Covid-19 crisis and the impacts suffered by the fruit and vegetable sector, mainly due to the drop in economic activity and marketing restrictions in 2020, the consumption of kiwifruit – a rich source of vitamin C – grew in Brazil .

Even with the rise in price, resulting from the unfavorable exchange rate for imported fruits, the revenue of Zespri, a New Zealand brand that holds 20% of the volume of kiwifruit sold in Brazil, grew by around 23% in dollars last year. This performance was boosted by the increase in consumption of Kiwi Zespri Vita SunGold, which grew 26%. In Brazil, the movement was driven by partnerships with large retail chains and the rapid structuring of e-commerce.

 “When we realized that the pandemic could affect our business, we sought out our partners and took the consumer experience into customers’ homes”, comments Zespri’s General Manager in Brazil, Eduardo Carmagnani. In 2020, during one month, Zespri delivered more than 30 thousand samples to customers who made shopping baskets Online on the Pão de Açúcar and Natural da Terra networks. “The strategy helped us understand how the E-commerce would work for a delicate product like kiwi and we were surprised by the result, so much so that we are expanding our partnership with other large chains this year,” added the executive.

According to company data, Brazil accounts for around 1% of the total kiwifruit exported by Zespri, which indicates great growth potential to be explored. Present in the main cities in all regions of Brazil, Zespri estimates that around 60% to 70% of its kiwi fruit consumption comes from the Southeast region. In 2021, the estimate is for growth in value of more than 30% in the South and Northeast regions, mainly driven by the good performance of Kiwi Zespri Vita SunGold.

 Investments and growth in E-commerce

 According to estimates by Ebit|Nielsen, e-commerce sales in Brazil in 2021 are expected to grow 26%, reaching revenues of R$ 110 billion, driven by the growth in the number of consumers, the consolidation of e-commerces local, strengthening marketplaces and the logistics maturity of the sector to speed up delivery in search of operational efficiency. The food and beverage sector is among those expected to grow the most, driven by purchases Online.

 Zespri's investments in the market, which in 2020 totaled US$ 500 thousand, are expected to reach US$ 2021 thousand in 600, approximately R$ 3,2 million in shares of trade marketing, digital media, partnerships and activations in E-commerce with the aim of stimulating experimentation and generating awareness for brand.

Invest in open-air markets with training

In addition to distributing around 50 thousand samples on the channels Online in large chains, the brand is carrying out a campaign with stallholders in the city of São Paulo with the aim of promoting the delivered on this channel. Thus, Zespri will provide more than 4 thousand samples to around 60 stallholders to deliver as gifts to their customers during home deliveries, encouraging experimentation and repurchase. The campaign also involves training work with the aim of enabling them to work with street market goers by providing relevant information about kiwi. Zespri representatives will visit the fairs in the neighborhoods of Moema, Itaim, Perdizes, Pacaembu, Cerqueira Cesar over the course of 4 months. The idea is to provide those who deal with fruit on a daily basis with a little more information about the nutritional properties of kiwi, how to create a visual impact at the point of sale, what is the ideal point of consumption and how to guarantee the quality of delivery”, he comments. Carmagnani.

Since arriving in the country in 2012, Zespri has been increasing its investments with an eye on growing fruit consumption by Brazilians. In the last 10 years, the imported kiwifruit market in Brazil has more than doubled, reaching US$2019 million in 43, equivalent to 30 thousand tons, according to the latest update from Comtrade, a statistical database.

 Year after year, kiwi has been incorporated into Brazilian consumption habits, mainly in classes A and B. A quantitative survey carried out by the company with Brazilian consumers in 2020 revealed that the average frequency of kiwi fruit consumption in Brazil is weekly, with more representative in the groups aged 20 to 40 years.