MEXICO CITY -- Online trading giant Alibaba has expressed interest in doing business in Latin America with a particular eye on Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, the China-based e-commerce company said here Saturday.
Chinese consumers are eager to obtain Latin American products, especially fresh produce such as Mexico's avocado, Sherri Wu, head of Alibaba's International E-commerce Business Development for the Americas, told Xinhua.
"Right now people love this food. Last month we sold over 10,000 orders (of avocado) through our channels and we would love to have more to offer to our customers," said Wu.
Since the end of 2014, Alibaba has been selling avocados through its online platform Tmall.
"We saw that avocado was a big success in 2014," said Wu.
Chilean cherries and Argentine prawns have also enjoyed a similar success via the platform, added Wu.
The need for "exotic" foodstuff in China comes from a growing middle class, which are more interested in quality merchandise from abroad.
Alibaba sees importing Latin American foodstuff into China as the first step toward doing business in the region and the company is working on closer ties with suppliers in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, Wu said.
