The consumer market has weakened since the outbreak of Covid-19 last year. More recent outbreaks in various cities also affected consumption levels. The lasting influence of the pandemic is without a doubt one of the biggest challenges for people in the fruit and vegetable industries. Fujian Dezhong Agricultural Products Co., Ltd. is a company specialized in fresh fruit services. Yao Lu, spokesperson for the company's import department, recently talked about Chinese market conditions for some of their import fruits, as well as the measures taken by Dezhong Agricultural Products to counter the impact of the pandemic.
Chinese market demand for cherries is huge, and the new season looks promising
Dezhong Agricultural Products has long managed fruit import. The company has developed direct purchase services in many production areas. One of the best-selling import fruits in the assortment of Dezhong is the Chilean cherry. This import fruit accounts for more than 40% of the overall trade value of Dezhong Agricultural Products.
"Last year the Chinese market for Chilean cherries cooled down due to the influence of the pandemic. The regular sales figures suffered. A new season is now about to start, and import traders look forward to the new season with optimism.
According to Yao Lu: "The main advantage of Chilean cherries is that their production season does not overlap with the Chinese cherry production season. The Chilean cherries enter the Chinese market in time for Chinese Spring Festival [1 February, 2022]. And these cherries are among the most popular fruits in the market during the festival period. A growing number of Chinese consumers have become familiar with Chilean cherries, not in the least because of numerous promotions on e-commerce platforms in the last two years. This year I expect the price of Chilean cherries to stabilize, considering the extent to which the pandemic has been brought under control. This stability also benefits the swift distribution of cherries to third- and fourth-tier cities. There is still a huge consumer potential for cherries in the Chinese market. We remain very optimistic about the new cherry season, provided that there are no extreme outbreaks of Covid-19."
Having learned from last season, Dezhong Agricultural Products already prepared suitable measures in advance of the new cherry season. "Not only have we developed new wholesale and retail channels, especially when it comes to e-commerce platforms, we have also improved our measures against the spread of Covid-19 and the management of our cold supply chain. In this way we can guarantee food safety, and distribute our fresh cherries to Chinese consumers with more efficiency."
Customs procedures for Asian import goods are complicated, and importers remain careful
Dezhong Agricultural Products imports a wide variety of Asian goods, but one of the most important items is the durian. The company established a processing factory in Thailand. Product specialists visit the plantations throughout the year to oversee the plantation, harvest, post-harvest preservation, distribution and storage, standardized selection, marketing expansion, and brand management.
Yao Lu summarized the Thai durian season that just finished: "This year the product quality of durian from production areas in east Thailand was quite stable. Their market conditions were good. The product quality of durian from south Thailand was not uniform and supply was not stable. In addition, customs procedures created obstacles for distribution. That is why the durian from south Thailand were often unmarketable in China. But the overall supply volume of Thai durian was more or less the same as last year. The average retail price increased by 20% compared to last year."
Apart from durian, Dezhong Agricultural Products also imports large volumes of dragon fruit, longan, and green coconuts. "The price of dragon fruit was rather low this year. That was primarily because consumer demand was weak. The price of longan was more or less the same as last year, but sales figures were not great. As for green coconuts, both price and sales volume were more or less the same as last year. There were no significant fluctuations," said Yao Lu.
The pandemic slowed down customs procedures for Asian import products. When asked about the impact of this development on Dezhong Agricultural Products, Yao Lu replied: "The import volume of Western products has significantly declined since the outbreak of Covid-19, but market demand for Asian import products remains strong. However, customs procedures are complicated. Inspection and quarantine regulations remain a problem. That is why we adopt a careful attitude when it comes to importing Asian products. This year the number of clients grew, so we increased our order volumes. That is why our import volume is somewhat larger than last year."
Chinese market demand for Western products has declined since the outbreak of Covid-19. Chinese consumers pay more attention to premium domestic products instead. When asked how the company responds to these market changes, Yao Lu explained: "The Dezhong team has managed fruit import and retail for many years. We have our own brands and reliable suppliers. In addition, we also have our own plantations and processing factories, so that we can manage the entire supply chain. We will only strengthen these developments in the future. Furthermore, we are working closely together with suppliers of premium domestic fruit products. At the same time, we also invest in the development of plantations and processing factories. As the premium domestic fruit industry grows, we will improve our retail team and retail channels."
Fujian Dezhong Agricultural Products Co. Ltd
The company was established in 2004. Since then the company team has developed specialized fruit wholesale and retail services to supply Chinese consumers with high-quality fresh import fruits. The company is now one of the leading B2B companies in the areas of wholesale, retail, and refrigerated distribution. The company manages several brands, including Sun Virtue, Fudexing and Guozhenhao, and works closely together with several well-known brands in Fujian.
Fujian Dezhong Agricultural Products will participate in the Shanghai International Fruit Expo on November 15-17. The company warmly welcomes all visitors to hall W2, booth D4-1. "We welcome all our friends and colleagues to visit our booth and work together with us."
For more information:
Yao Lu
Fujian Dezhong Agricultural Products Co., Ltd.
Tel.: 18501641760
E-mail: lulunayao@foxmail.com