"Ripe on the tree" is an expression in the industry that refers to fruit that is 80% ripe or more while still on the tree. Take papayas as an example, the majority are harvested from the tree before the fruit is even 70% ripe. Since the fruit is not sufficiently ripe for consumption, the papayas need treatment that stimulates the ripening process before they can be sold in the market.
Organic papayas
Organic papayas
"Looking at the overall fruit industry in China, there are few tropical fruits that can truly ripen on the tree. This is predominantly due to plantation owners and fruit distributors who hope to take advantage of commercial opportunities and seize their market share early. They try to bring their own fruit on the market before the bulk of the fruit arrives, but in doing so, they not only lower the overall quality of fruit in the market, they also weaken consumer desire for fruit. This affects the price in the entire fruit industry." This is according to Chang Zhongjie, Hainan fruit plantation owner and distributor.
Organic papayas
Organic papayas
"Hainan papaya plantations enjoy abundant sunshine, unlike many papaya plantations on the Chinese mainland. The difference in temperatures between day and night are relatively great. Furthermore, Hainan remains frost-free throughout the year. These conditions are extremely suitable for papaya production. In addition, Hainan papayas produce fruit throughout the year, not just during the summer months. The papaya market conditions were not great in recent years, so many plantation owners changed from papaya production to other fruits. This caused a decrease in papaya production volume this year. The domestic market demand, however, is quite strong, and the supply volume is insufficient."
Organic papayas
Organic papayas
"We distribute organic papayas from Hainan to all regions of China with a trademark that guarantees 'ripe on the tree' papayas. We are careful to provide consumers with organic papayas with good product quality, from the moment we package the papayas until the moment that they reach the consumer. We temporarily stopped papaya export to overseas markets in light of the great domestic demand for our papayas. We estimate that the market supply volume of papayas will stabilize after Spring Festival [February 5th, 2019]."
Contact person: Chang Zhongjie
Hainan papaya plantation owner and distributor
Telephone number: +86 181 0096 3536
WeChat account: czj18100963536