The Peruvian Embassy in China recently co-hosted a tasting event for the country's 'Sun' mangoes, which have been air-freighted to the market and have sold quickly in a range of regions.

Importer Shanghai FCD Industrial Co was the other host, and its general manager Hao Yu told www.freshfruitportal.com the group was targeting wholesale markets in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and other major cities, along with efforts in retail, e-commerce and WeChat-based distribution channels.

He added Shenyang, Dalian, Harbin, Chongqing and many second-tier cities had also seen unexpected popularity with Sun mangoes, which are of the Kent variety.

The company has opened an office in the northern Peruvian mango-growing region of Piura to be close to supply, but Hao is contemplating a move to Lima to be closer to the airport.

When asked about pricing, the importer said it would be toward the higher end of the spectrum due to the cost of air freight, however in the early stages the group would aim for a medium range to attract more market attention.

The Sun Mango tasting event was planned to be held during December last year, but was postponed until Jan. 14 due to various reasons.

"There have been two batches of mangoes that arrived in Beijing and Shanghai, but these mangoes were damaged and dehydrated due to prolonged transport," Hao said.

"So we had to adjust our supply chain and eventually solved the problem."

According to Hao, 400-500 boxes of mangoes had arrived in Shanghai and were sold out very quickly.

He said the season would normally go from December to June, and was usually later than the Australian mango season.

FCD's Peru-based project manager Su Wei said inspiration for the name came from the traditional Sun God belief from some ancient Peruvian societies.

"Kent is a very common name among many countries and is not unique to Peru. We wanted to give Chinese consumers a new cultural sensation and sought inspiration from Peru's ancient Sun God worship. So far it's been effective," Su said.

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