A local Taiwanese upscale supermarket chain implemented a service for shipping Taiwanese fruit to customers in Hong Kong and Japan, back in 2008. The service will now allow customers to order mangoes, lychees, pineapples and dragon fruit online, said Ella Hung of city'super, a joint venture between the Far Eastern Group and an upscale supermarket of the same name in Hong Kong. The new service means easier access to the country's high-quality tropical fruit for consumers in the aforementioned countries.
Orders can be placed from now until July 11 for fruits to be sent to people in the two markets so they can enjoy them at the same time as people in Taiwan, Hung said.
Without giving any specific numbers due to company policy, Hung said that since the current season began in mid April, orders have increased by more than 30 percent from the same period of last year.
As in previous years, she said, some 70 percent of the orders received have come from people in Taiwan who send the fruits to friends and relatives in Japan and Hong Kong as presents.
Any fruit sent is subject to inspections by authorities in both Taiwan and the countries they are sent to, she said. The service currently does not apply to other countries.
For a 5-kilogram box of mangoes, the price is NT$2,800 (US$85) for Japan and NT$2,400 for Hong Kong. Customers in Taiwan who want to order the product for themselves will be charged NT$1,100.
For a box of three pineapples weighing a total of 5 kilograms, the price is NT$1,500 for Japan, NT$1,400 for Hong Kong and NT$660 for Taiwan.
