Australian grapes have seen a rise in popularity in Hong Kong, according to a report commissioned by the Victorian Department of Primary Industries on the Hong Kong and China market for table grapes.
The report shows Australian grape exports into Hong Kong increased by 140 percent last year compared to 2008, and was valued at US$55 million.
The surge shows there is opportunity in the lucrative China market as well, remarked Patricia Griffiths, manager for Internatiuonal Trade at the Victorian Employers’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI). “Chinese people love high quality fruit and grapes are no exception. Hong Kong traders could not get enough crimson seedless and indicated that the quality of Australian fruit was consistently high.”
According to Jeff Scott, CEO of the Australian Table Grape Association, “Chinese consume some 5 million tons of grapes, with less than two percent being imported. We are counter seasonal to their growing season so the potential of the market is huge, particularly with direct shipments to their major sea ports, in both the North and South of China.”
