Avocado demand and a farm-to-table app

Last year, we published an article titled “Food fads of the hipster Chinese.” Number one on our list: avocados. Today, CNBC reports that global avocado sales to China are expected to more than double in 2018.

• Crocodile pears (鳄梨 èlí) or butter fruit (牛油果 niúyóuguǒ) in Chinese, avocados were first introduced into China in 1925, but have only recently started to go mainstream in the mainland.
• Demand “appears to just double every year, from what we’ve seen,” says the president of California-based Mission Produce, “the world’s largest distributor of avocados.”
• “Healthy” and “trendy” are buzzwords among China avocado industry people.
• Mexico is probably the biggest beneficiary of the increased demand. Latin American countries as a group shipped about 76 million pounds of avocados last season to China.
• Kiwi fruit and olive oil are the other items in the above-mentioned review of Chinese hipster foods that I think will see strong demand.

Farm to table — there’s an app for that

In other food news, Bloomberg reports that “Meicai, a China startup that helps farmers sell vegetables to restaurants, has raised $450 million in a funding round.”

• $2.8 billion is Mecai’s valuation after the new investment. The company was founded in 2014.
• Farms sell their vegetables directly to small and medium-size restaurants using the app.

• Tech talent
  Chinese workers abandon Silicon Valley for riches back home / Bloomberg
  “An exodus triggered by abundant capital, growing innovation and flourishing career opportunities.”
• Venture capital
  Asia close to eclipsing U.S. as world’s biggest VC market / FT (paywall)
  “Asia is closing in on the U.S. as the biggest home for venture capital, with total funding of $70.8bn last year to America’s $71.9bn, according to the latest PwC/CB Insights MoneyTree Report.”
• Rich people
  China’s youngest billionaire gets $6 billion richer in seven days / Bloomberg
  “China’s richest woman, Yang Huiyan 杨惠妍, added $6.1 billion to her wealth in just seven days of market trading, trailing only Amazon.com Inc.’s Jeff Bezos in growing her fortune this year.”
• Healthcare
  Distrusting China’s medical system, patients turn to U.S. doctors online / LA Times
• On-demand and electric transport
  Didi continues pivot into two-wheeled mobility with beta test of electric bike rental / TechNode
• Natural gas shortage
  China’s fertilizer makers left out in the cold amid winter fuel crisis / SCMP
• Luxury retail
  At risk of being left behind, Prada finally sells online in China / Jing Daily
• Cryptocurrencies
  Chinese bitcoin mining giant sets up Swiss subsidiary / Reuters
  China’s largest cryptocurrency thrives despite intense crackdown / Bloomberg