Apple and Pear vs. Shine Muscat and Mango... Changing Preferences in Fruit Gift Sets

Emart Expands Mixed Set Supply by 30%

Farmers Pick Green Sapphire. (Photo by Emart)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Recently, consumers are increasingly seeking mixed fruit gift sets featuring Shine Muscat grapes, mangoes, and other fruits rather than traditional apple and pear gift sets. This trend reflects the growing variety of fruits placed on holiday ancestral rites tables and the shift in fruit gift trends from ritual offerings to desserts meant for the whole family to share.

According to Emart on the 17th, sales performance of fruit gift sets during last Chuseok showed that mixed fruit gift sets including Shine Muscat and mangoes recorded about 40% higher sales than gift sets composed solely of apples and pears. Accordingly, for this year's Seollal holiday, the quantity of mixed sets including Redhyang, Hallabong, kiwi, and others has been increased by 30%.

Ahead of the Seollal holiday, Emart introduced premium fruit gift sets that can be conveniently sent and received via KakaoTalk Gift. The products launched this time are two types: Farmers Pick Green Sapphire and Farmers Pick Green Emerald. Farmers Pick Green Sapphire consists of nine types of fruits, including traditional domestic fruits such as apples, pears, persimmons, and tangerines, as well as Shine Muscat, dragon fruit, musk melon, mango, and avocado.

Since the end of April this year, Emart has been diversifying sales channels using KakaoTalk Gift, starting with Farmers Pick Stevia tomatoes, cherries, apples, and oranges, and in summer targeting small households with compact Kkamang Apple watermelons. This strategy aims to increase customer touchpoints so that customers can more easily gift and purchase Emart’s competitively priced fresh foods through convenient gifting channels that have expanded from the MZ generation (Millennials + Gen Z) to the 50s and 60s age groups.

An Emart representative said, “We plan to offer products such as strawberries, which are sensitive to freshness, through KakaoTalk Gift with direct delivery from excellent farms partnered with Emart, ensuring both freshness and price competitiveness,” adding, “Our goal is to triple the sales scale of KakaoTalk Gift within the next two years and expand it to various sales channels.”