Hema signed a contract with a Chilean cherry company and built the first direct purchase base of Chilean fruits

Signings at the CIIE continued. On November 6, Hema signed a strategic cooperation agreement with GarcesFruit, the leading supplier of Chilean cherries. GarcesFruit will supply Hema with high-quality and low-priced Chilean fruits such as cherries, cherry plums, and prunes. At the same time, Hema's first overseas direct procurement base in Chile was officially completed.

According to data released by the Chilean Export Promotion Agency, in January this year, Chilean cherry exports hit a record high, with an export value of US$1.555 million, an increase of 27.5%, breaking the record since 2007. Benefiting from the surge in consumer demand during the Spring Festival, cherries exported to China accounted for as much as 93%, an increase of 30.8% year-on-year.

GarcesFruit is the largest cherry exporter in Chile and has a large number of high-quality sources in Chile. Chen Yanghui, Hema's national fruit procurement and marketing director, said that due to the production season, the peak sales season for Chilean cherries is around the Chinese Lunar New Year every year. The red color itself is also very consistent with the good meaning of sending good luck during the Spring Festival, so cherries have become one of the popular New Year goods.

Hema and Jizhi have always been close partners. After reaching a strategic cooperation, Jizhi will build a "dedicated supply" channel for Hema, control the quality of cherries from the source, customize packaging for Hema, improve logistics and transportation efficiency, reduce transshipment links, and try to ensure that cherries are not de-cooled from leaving the fruit trees to being put on the shelves. After the two parties reach a direct purchase cooperation, the supply chain cost of Jizhi cherries from Chile to Hema will be reduced by about 5%.

Juan Latife, general manager of Jizhi Greater China, said that this year is a bumper year for Chilean cherries, and the output has increased compared with previous years. It is expected that the average selling price this year will also drop, allowing Chinese consumers to buy high-quality and low-priced Chilean cherries.

At present, the first batch of air-freighted Chilean cherries this year has been put on the shelves. At the "Chile Week" event to be held in December, Hema will set up Chilean product areas in more than 10 stores in Shanghai, bringing together high-quality products such as Chilean fruits, red wine, salmon, silver cod, etc., which will be fully displayed to enrich consumers' choices.