The orange and tangerine supply seasons in China were delayed during the Chinese Spring Festival [25 January, 2020] and the subsequent COVID-19 epidemic, but now the oranges and tangerines are entering the market. The majority of citrus fruit on the Chinese market is domestic, but there are also imported oranges from Egypt, Spain, and the US.
David of Guangdong HolyFresh Fruits Co., Ltd. recently talked about the market conditions of Orri tangerines: "Our Orri tangerine production season actually began in late December and early January. We initially only sold our tangerines in the Guangzhou Wholesale Market and the Jiaxing Wholesale Market. We also sold to supermarkets via intermediaries. The product quality and flavor of our Orri tangerines improved in comparison with last season. The main reason for this improvement is reduced rainfall and a larger temperature difference between day and night. These conditions are beneficial for the growing process and ripening process. The Orri tangerines benefited from these conditions and they are much sweeter this year. The average brix is around 14.5. Domestic market demand for Orri tangerines is very large and the price has seen a continuous rise in recent weeks."
Export market
"Of course, export conditions are very different from last year as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic. After Spring Festival, we immediately began exporting our tangerines. The price was around 3 yuan [0.42 USD] per 0.5 kg at the time. Some countries closed their borders, such as India and Bangladesh. This also had an effect on our export volume. In comparison with last season, our export volume declined by around 30%. We encountered difficulties, but in the end we were still able to export our tangerines to Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. They still have a large demand for our Orri tangerines. Our product has an excellent name."
"The Middle East and Southeast Asia still have a lot of market potential that we hope to develop in the future. These countries are quickly developing and their living standards are rising. Their consumers are able to afford imported fruit and they are looking for top-quality fruit that is beneficial for their health. I therefore expect consumer demand from these countries to grow in the coming years."
"The product quality of our Orri tangerines is great and the flavor is excellent. We cooperate with traders in several large-scale production areas. These companies use the most advanced technology available to select their fruit. There is only a limited number of companies involved in Orri tangerine export. We are working hard to set an example in this industry. We pay careful attention to the quality of our Orri tangerines because the industry has not yet developed standard requirements for Orri tangerine product quality."
According to David, the Orri tangerine is extremely suitable for export: "In the end, the Orri tangerine is still a relatively new product variety, but their popularity is growing fast. This product variety has a number of advantages that makes the Orri tangerine attractive. First, Orri tangerines can be kept for quite some time, which makes them suitable for export over long distances. Furthermore, the Orri tangerine will maintain product quality even after some time in storage. That means our clients can store the Orri tangerines when market conditions are less than ideal. In addition, Orri tangerines have a sweet smell. This makes it easier for a wide variety of consumers to enjoy them. And finally, the Orri tangerine can remain on the tree for some time and this has no impact on the amount of new flowers in the subsequent production season. Therefore, farmers who are unable to immediately harvest the Orri tangerines can easily leave them on the tree without having to worry about product quality loss."
Development of the Orri tangerine market in China
"We believe that the Orri tangerine will become one of the most important tangerines in the Chinese market. The product variety is relatively new, but the product quality is high and the tangerine endures storage well. Guangdong HolyFresh Fruits sells Nanfeng honey tangerines, Navel oranges from Hunan and Hubei, Ponkan tangerines, and Shatang tangerines from Guangxi.
"However, we believe that the Orri tangerine has the most promising future ahead. In addition, the overall surface area devoted to Orri tangerine plantation is rapidly expanding. The overall surface area devoted to Orri tangerine plantation in Guangxi alone already reached 133 thousand hectares. I believe this number will only continue to grow in the coming years and other production areas are expanding Orri tangerine plantation as well. These production areas include Yunnan, Sichuan, Chongqing, Chengdu, Guangdong, and Hunan. In other words, the Orri tangerine is not just an excellent product for the Chinese market, but the tangerine shows great promise for the export market as well."
For more information:
David
Guangdong HolyFresh Fruits Co., Ltd.
Tel.: +86 18682055436
www.sprifresh.com