Study: China A Golden Opportunity For Florida Orange Juice
March 30, 2016 A new University of Florida study shows opportunity is available to American and Florida marketers who want to sell 100% not from concentrate (NFC) Florida orange juice in China.
Zhifeng Gao, a UF/IFAS Associate Professor of Food and Resource Economics, led the study in which researchers surveyed shoppers as they entered grocery stores in four major cities in China: Beijing, Shanghai, Zhengzhou, and Shenzhen.
After questioning 1,053 consumers, the researchers found the Chinese usually will buy an orange juice drink that is made with only 10% real juice. They also found that Chinese consumers know little about the benefits of Western-style juice products, such as their high nutritional value.
Two approaches to encourage the Chinese consumer to drink 100% NFC Florida orange juice are to educate them about its health benefits and to reduce the price, the study shows. For example, a search of Taobao.com, a website Gao describes as the Chinese equivalent of Ebay, shows the retail price of a 1.75-liter (nearly half a gallon) paper carton of 100% NFC orange juice ranges from $8.55 to $12.75 in China.
Loading ...Researchers also found that although 86% of the respondents agreed there’s a difference between “fruit juice” and “fruit juice drink,” about 78% didn’t know most fruit juice products in the Chinese market only have about 10% juice content.
“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.”
Chinese consumers like Western-style foods, Gao noted, including fine dining and fast-food. The popularity of these foods shows they 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.”
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