"Wax apples are cultivated in Taiwan in large amounts. A popular variety is the Black Pearl variety. It is a small wax apple, with a particular deep red colour. It has a thick skin, which makes that the fruit can endure storage quite well. Sugar content can reach 12 brix or more. The Black King Kong wax apple is an improved variety of the Black Pearl. The fruit is bigger than the Black Pearl, contains less fiber, more juice has a more crunchy texture. That is why its market price is higher," explains Mrs. Su from the Qionghai Jueyue Fruit and Vegetable Sales Farmers Collective from Hainan Province, an island in the South China.
The Black King Kong wax apple
Delicate fruit with short shelf-life,
"The texture of the Black Kingkong is of better quality, but, because its skin is less thick, it is easier damaged during picking and transporting. Ripe wax apples fall from the tree, which also damages the skin of the fruit and makes it impossible to sell. Furthermore, the Black King Kong wax apple has a short shelf-life: it can only best stored a week in a cool atmosphere. This is why the Black King Kong is relatively little sold in Mainland China. Now logistics and cold chain facilities are improving it has become more feasible to transport the fruit. As a result, we have been strong sales in Mainland cities like Canton, Xiamen, Shanghai and Beijing."
Wax apples trees beer fruit all year around. However, blooming and harvest are controlled to protect the quality of the products and to be able to defend against insects and disease. "Because the weather in Hainan becomes so hot in July, followed by heavy rainfall, we end the harvest in June. Our wax apples are available from May until June (blooming takes place in March and April) and from January to February. The supply period is no longer than twenties days after harvest. Currently, the harvest is almost four weeks later due to cold weather. Supply will end by the end of next week."
Mrs. Su's has a family farm of 13 hectares where Black Kingkong wax apples are cultivated. The difference with other farms is that: "our farming ground includes a natural lake, which is beneficial to the growth of the Black Kingkong because the wax apples appreciates a moisty, hot environment. Organic fertilisers are also used, like shrimp scale, peanut cake, fat scrapes and others, which is part of the reason why we can enter and hold a position in the high-end markets."
For more info:
Mrs. Su
Qionghai Jueyue Fruit and Vegetable Sales Farmer Collective
Shanghai Jueyue Fruit Industry
Telephone: +86 137 6107 8003