Walmart China partners with Sweeki for top-quality kiwis
Ferrara, Italy / June 17, 2020 – Over 400 Walmart China stores nationwide, as well as the chain’s online platforms, are currently promoting kiwifruit belonging to the Sweeki brand of the Italo-Chilean produce consortium Origine Group. Customers can now purchase Sweeki kiwifruit through Walmart’s omnichannel.
Numerous Walmart stores will hold a wide array of promotional events in the next few weeks, including product samplings to let customers experience the unique taste of Sweeki kiwifruit in advance. Sweeki is the premium kiwifruit brand of the Origine Group, a consortium of nine Italian and Chilean fresh produce companies renowned for providing high-quality products to the global market. The total annual value of the fresh fruits and vegetables produced, packaged and traded by the companies comprising the consortium exceeds $1.2 billion.
The new partnership with Sweeki to stock fresh kiwifruit also covers both hemispheres, with fruit being grown in both Italy and Southern Chile to ensure an uninterrupted supply throughout the year. Given the collaboration with Sweeki, Walmart is able to employ simple and efficient procedures for harvesting and shipping, which will ensure freshness and quality while maintaining cost effectiveness, enabling Chinese customers to spend less while enjoying higher-quality kiwifruit via the Walmart China omnichannel.
The Sweeki brand was established by the group in 2015, with a primary focus on exporting to Asian markets. The name Sweeki is a portmanteau of “sweet” and “kiwi” and represents the company’s commitment to its quality standards. All Sweeki kiwifruit must display a dry matter content of at least 16% prior to harvest and meet stringent standards for sweetness, ripeness, color and shape.
- fiche/Origine Group
The consortium Origine Group was founded in 2015 by several companies, leaders in the international markets in the production and trading of fresh fruit and vegetables. The consortium represents companies already firmly present on the domestic and international markets, with a total turnover of over 1,200 million dollars, which have joined their resources to provide a top-quality product, working together on innovation and new varieties to look out into new emerging markets. Origine Group member are the Italian groups Apofruit, Frutta C2, Gran Frutta Zani, Kiwi Uno, Minguzzi, Salvi-Unacoa, Spreafico and the Chilean groups David Del Curto and Copefrut.
