China: Expanding production areas extend bayberry season

"The bayberries from Yunnan and Taizhou, Zhejiang, enter the market between the beginning of May until the middle of June, and 10 June until 10 July respectively. When looking back at the last season, the total Yunnan bayberry production was stable, and the sales were very satisfactory. However, the heavy rain has severely affected the Taizhou bayberry quality. It has also led to a decrease in production and a rise in price," according Mr. Mou Guifu of Taizhou Jiasheng Ecological Agriculture Co Ltd.

"After we purchase high quality bayberries from Yunnan and Taizhou, we sell them under our brand 'Ji Xian Hao' through traditional sales channels to large-scale distributors and supermarkets in first and second tier cities in China. Because of the relatively short season of bayberries, we have decided to cooperate with local production sites in Yunnan as well, on top of our cooperation with Taizhou. This can extend the bayberry season of the same brand with almost 2.5 months."

"This is the first year that we've been working with these two large production areas. While we have been very successful, we have also seen some problems that need to be solved before the next season, especially concerning product positioning. In our marketing plans, we are now positioning our bayberries as a premium product. Ideally, we want to target high-end sales platforms, like supermarkets and e-commerce."

"However, last year, after our high quality bayberries entered the market, the sales were much slower than expected. Because bayberries have a rather short shelf life, we have changed our sales strategy. That means that we are now selling vacuum packaged, refrigerated bayberries. I believe, however, that in the future, we will find a more effective method to solve this problem."

Mou Guifu

Phone: +86 137 7761 0290

Email: 1471015597@qq.com