China a potential market for NFC orange juice

A SURVEY conducted by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences says that Chinese consumers usually purchase orange juice that contains only 10 percent real juice. It further says that consumers are not familiar with the nutritional benefits of Western-style juice products.

The survey led by Zhifeng Gao, an associate professor of food and resource economics at the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, involved 1,053 shoppers in grocery stores in Beijing, Shanghai, Zhengzhou and Shenzhen.

Based on the results, marketers can encourage consumption of 100 percent not from concentrate (NFC) Florida orange juice among Chinese consumers by educating them about the health benefits. They are recommended to reduce the price of the juice as well.

For example, a search of www.taobao.com shows the retail price of a 1.75-liter (nearly half a gallon) paper carton of 100 percent NFC orange juice ranges from $8.55 to $12.75 in China.

Researchers also found that although 86 percent of the respondents agreed there’s a difference between “fruit juice” and “fruit juice drink,” about 78 percent didn’t know that most fruit juice products in the Chinese market only have about 10 percent juice content.

These findings are important for American orange juice manufacturers and marketers.

“We can emphasize that Florida is the biggest orange juice producer in the U.S.,” Gao said. “The product is healthy, safe and natural. There are many ways to educate the Chinese, but to make it practical, we need more research to see which approach is more effective in promoting Florida orange juice.”

In 2010, China surpassed Mexico as the second largest market for US agricultural exports, with a value of $15 billion a year, according to the study, published in the journal Agribusiness. That value went up to just under $30 billion in fiscal year 2014, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

With an expanding economy, the Chinese are showing a proclivity for high-fat foods such as dairy, meats and oil, but fewer staples like rice and flour, Gao said. Chinese consumers like Western-style foods, including fine dining and fast-food. The popularity of these foods shows Chinese are willing to change their consumption patterns.

“For the Florida orange juice industry to succeed in the Chinese market, producers and marketers may learn from the success of Kentucky Fried Chicken in China,” Gao said. “KFC’s story in China suggests two things that may contribute to the future success of Florida orange juice in China: advertisement and adaptation.”

From a report by: Brad Buck (bradbuck@ufl.edu)

Source: Zhifeng Gao (zfgao@ufl.edu)