Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/178281
photo courtesy of keith hu, northwest cherry growers Ambassador Gary Locke hosted a promotion for Northwest cherries in July, visiting a Sam's Club in Beijing and the offices of online retailer Tmall.com. The cherries are shipped to Tmall's customers in insulated boxes with the Northwest cherry logo and a flyer on Northwest cherries. Chinese consumers can receive the cherries within 48 to 72 hours of them being picked, according to Tmall.com. During the first promotion, which ran from June 26 to July 11, Tmall.com sold 110 tons of Northwest cherries, which was 11 percent of the total volume shipped to China during that time frame. During the second promotion, ten days later, they had difficulty sourcing good quality cherries and limited the volume to 30,000 cherry orders—or about 60 tons. They sold out in three days. During the two promotions combined, Tmall.com sold more cherries than were sold in Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand combined. More than 60 Chinese media outlets reported on the promotions. "It's been a great success for us," Hu said. "We're the first organization that sold products like that from the United States. It spread our product awareness t hroughout China to 35 different cities." Hu had already been working to accomplish the same thing the traditional way through the large supermarkets. He said he had not yet calculated how much volume Tmall.com sold in comparison with other retailers in China. The Tmall.com promotions tied in with a Northwest Cherry Growers promotion featuring Gary Locke, former Washington State governor, who is now the U.S. ambassador to China and extremely popular there. "Gary Locke is a rock star in China," Hu joked. Tmall.com reports that U.S. foods are "red hot" in China, where consumers are increasingly turning to e-commerce to access foods from the United States because of concerns about food safety in their own country. The company saw sales of imported foods increase fivefold in the first half of 2013. • www.goodfruit.com NOW is the best time to buy for REAR-MOUNT PUMP MODEL SPRAYERS Custom order to your specifications Preseason Discounts Versatility • Reliability • Flexibility TurboSteer Hitch PRE-SEASON VINGS SAORDER NOW&SAVE ! THOUSANDS! ASK ABOUT THE Tee Jet Monitor for managing your SPRAY PROGRAM "Serving Area Farmers Since 1939" 1308 East Mead YAKIMA, WA 509-457-8105 "Your Ag Equipment Specialist" 800-827-5138 burrowstractor.com QUALITY SERVICE QUALITY PARTS 927 Wenatchee Ave WENATCHEE, WA 509-888-0355 Good Fruit Grower OCTOBER 2013 25