A few weeks ago, the first Chinese pomelos arrived at exotics importer Yex. According to Xian Huang, China is having a good harvest (+20/30%), and it's especially the large sizes that are abundantly available in the market. The smaller sizes (10-12) - mainly popular on the German market - have a more limited availability, and also yield a lot more money at the moment. The Chinese pomelo season runs until about February.
"The expectation is that larger volumes of pomelos will come here from China starting next month. This weekend, there's a national holiday in China, and local consumption is very high. From October onwards, larger volumes will be sent to the EU. With our supermarket customers, we fully focus on promotions in October, November and before Christmas," Xian says. "For the sales of pomelos, we're hoping for a cold winter, because then consumption is highest."
Although yields of the pomelos are good, typhoons in the region are causing some crop damage, the importer says. "Due to rain, it's impossible to harvest in certain regions." There is hardly any competition from other regions, he says. "The pomelos from Vietnam will only enter the market when the Chinese season has ended, and a country like Malaysia mainly grows for the local market. Export takes place from China to the Middle East and Southeast Asia, but the biggest competition for the export to Europe comes from the local Chinese consumption."
Yex mainly supplies the pomelos to customers in the German and Scandinavian market. Although most of the pomelos for the European market come in through the Netherlands, not much produce remains in the Netherlands. It's nearly all destined for neighbouring countries. "At most, some Chinese supermarkets offer pomelos here in the Netherlands," Xian says. "In other years, Russia was sometimes a major market for Chinese exporters, but that export isn't at the level of other years anymore. Supplies to Russia only take place if payment is completed in advance."
Since the second week of August, Yex also has Chinese Nashi pears in its product range. Yex supplies the Nashi pears in open top packagings of 7 kg for the retail market. "The market is stable, but demand is never very high in September. Consumers have returned from holiday, and the European top fruit consumption is also starting up," Xian concludes.
The pomelos and Nashi pears are both sold under the Discovered brand. "The brand represents a wide range of exotic fruit and vegetables, with the goal being that the consumer gets optimal enjoyment out of our uncommon products," Xian concludes. "With recipes, tips and other inspiration, we convince the consumer of the versatility of exotics, showing that they are very easy to use."
For more information:
Yex
ABC Westland 120
2685 DB Poeldijk
T: +31 174 214536
F: +31 174 214449
x.huang@yex.nl
www.yex.nl