With the new pear season about to start, the long awaited export of Dutch pears to the Chinese market will also start. Bert Wilschut recently attended the official christening of the pears for The Greenery during the International Horticultural Exhibition in Qingdao and speaks of the preparations and expectations.
Bert Wilschut (left) during the 'pear christening'
What preparations are you making at the moment?
Our focus right now is on our growers, packing stations and cooling houses meeting the protocol correctly. When the Chinese delegation comes to the Netherlands on the 25th of August, everything has to be right. Next week our colleague Tony Liu from Dalice - the company in China that has been part of The Greenery for over ten years - is coming to the Netherlands. Rick Hitzerd coordinates the sales with Tony Liu from The Greenery. We will make a selection of the customers we wish to serve and go through everything from cultivation to arrival with them next week. The financial safeguard is also important in this. You can't just send ships full of containers of pears without any kind of security.
How big is the interest from China actually?
That interest is certainly present. Around twenty Chinese companies who are interested have approached us. We want to make a selection of them. We want to keep it manageable. We are looking at the places we want to serve and the available logistic connections. The population of a relatively small place like Qingdao has doubled in ten years time and this is a regular place. The total Chinese market is the same size as the entirety of Europe. If we focus on five towns with a number of customers per town to start with, it is nothing compared to the total population.
So the path is clear for massive volumes?
This isn't what the focus is on in the first season. Imagine, we start serving a few customers in five large towns in China with a container per week, assuming an average transit time of five to six weeks, that's thirty containers on the water without one even being received. We want to keep the risks manageable. It's in the best interest of the growers and our company. The Chinese market's potential is huge, but we mainly want to do it right and aren't choosing size just yet. We want to monitor the entire cultivation and export well and manage it until the product is in China. If the quality and taste is perfect, we can build up the market for the long term."
Bert
Do the Chinese want Dutch pears?
I am least concerned about the taste experience of the pears, as long as we meet all the criteria. This was shown during the fair in Qingdao, where the people loved our pears. We have good expectations for the export of Conference pears, but even better ones for the Sweet Sensation. This pear fits well with the colour and taste preference of the Chinese.
What part of your area has been accepted for the export to China?
In total we signed on 154 hectares, of which over 40 hectares is Sweet Sensation. This doesn't mean that the entire area has to be exported to China. You have to consider the possible results of hail damage or toughening. It's not as simple as loading up the entire harvest and selling it all in China. However, due to the risks we have signed on and certified enough product with a good ratio between Conference and Sweet Sensation.
What sales channels are being focussed on?
The chain from producer to buyer is very different in China from what we are used to here in Europe. Part of the sales goes through the wholesale market and part goes through service providers. Direct supply to wholesale companies isn't the order there yet. Our advantage is that we have had an office in Qingdao with Dalice for over ten years. They mainly took care of the sourcing of products like garlic, ginger and fuji apples for us, and so made a lot of contacts. They can help us with the introduction, promotion and guidance of the Dutch pears. A number of Greenery colleagues also know their way around the Chinese market. This has helped us build up a head start.
Do you expect a lot of competition between the Dutch exporters?
No, I don't. Thirteen exporters signed up for the export to China, and we have good relationships and work with most of them. The agreement that the companies that are accredited can exchange pears for export together has been made. So it's possible that Greenery growers could supply pears to other exporters with China as their destination."
For more information:The Greenery
Bert Wilschut: 06 - 27 026 003
Rick Hitzerd: 06 - 51 822 746
www.thegreenery.com