This is the time of the year when the new harvest of Chinese apples enters the market in large volumes. The overall production volume is much larger than around this time last year and market competition is growing more intense.
The current price of apples shows a significant decline in comparison with the price of apples during the same period last year. However, some apples stand out for their unique quality and manage to escape the fierce market competition.
One variety that manages to stand out is the "love of red" apple cultivated by the National Agricultural Baoxing Company. This apple is a late-season variety and its fruit flesh is red. This is a particularly distinctive characteristic for an apple. Market demand has grown stronger every day since the apple variety was introduced several years ago.
During a conversation about the current conditions in the Chinese apple market, Wang Zong of National Agricultural Baoxing Company explained, "we let our apples grow ripe on the tree in a natural way. We do not artificially promote the ripening process. We harvest our apples every year in the middle of October. The "love of red" apple variety is usually sold out completely within one to four months because the apple variety is unique and supply is scarce. The production volume this year is five times the size of last year, but product quality is maintained at the same level as last year. In addition, our company imported a fruit selection line that started operating this year. This allows us to implement stricter selection procedures. We have only just begun to develop a market for "love of red" apples. Current supply is unable to satisfy market demand because the apple variety is unique and the nutritional value is high. We therefore experience very little competition from regular apple varieties."
"We are the largest supplier of apples with red fruit flesh. We are the market leader for this apple variety. The apples are very healthy and unique, but they are also rare. However, we hope to develop this apple variety so that it becomes more profitable for buyers and more reasonable for consumers. We still use gift packaging to wrap our apples. The price of our apples is around 100-300 yuan [14.22-42.67 USD] per 2 kg, depending on the quality of the apples."
Most of the apples of Baoxing Company are produced in their own orchards, which are distributed among Beijing, Xinjiang, Henan, and Inner Mongolia. The overall surface area devoted to apple plantation in these orchards is around 667 hectares. "Baoxing Company produces apples that are suitable as snacks. The "love of red" apples are very fresh. Their flavor is sweet and sour. Their sugar content is around 14-17. The apples is rich in anthocyan, which gives the apple its red color. The 'love of red' apples contain 20-30 times more anthocyan than regular apples. The apples are resistant to oxidation and do not spoil easily. Many types of fruit in the Chinese market seem to compete to be the sweetest, and there are not many fruits that have a sweet and sour flavor. The online and offline sales of our apples are integrated. Most of our consumers are in first- and second-tier cities throughout China, but we also have consumers in third- and fourth-tier cities. The potential development of our product is closely related to our marketing channels."
For more information:
Wang Zong
National Agricultural Baoxing Company
Tel.: +86 13910690691