"Fujian recently suffered from hailstorms, but the extreme weather conditions only had a very limited impact on fruit production in the area. Honey pomelo farmers have already placed protective pouches around most of the fruit. The harvest of this production season will enter the Chinese market in the middle of August. We will officially begin to take orders in the beginning of August." This is according to manager Yang of Xiamen Rayen Co., Ltd., a company specialized in the export of Chinese honey pomelo.
Manager Yang recently talked about the current conditions in the Chinese honey pomelo industry.
"The white pomelo is one of the traditional honey pomelo varieties from Fujian. It is a popular export product. However, because the surface area devoted to the plantation of this pomelo variety continues to expand and the production volume grows larger every year, many farmers have already lost a lot of money on this variety.
"Furthermore, since 2015, the red honey pomelo has begun to gain popularity in the domestic market and abroad. The price of the red pomelo is much higher than for the white one. Many farmers are therefore shifting their attention from white honey pomelo to red honey pomelo.
"The surface area devoted to the plantation of white honey pomelo continues to decline each year, while the surface area devoted to the plantation of red honey pomelo keeps growing. We estimate that in this new season the surface area of the former decreased by 15%-20%, while red honey pomelo plantations expanded by more than 10%."
When asked about the market prospects for honey pomelo from Pinghe, manager Yang replied: "As the export volume of red honey pomelo grows, the price difference between red and white shrinks. This year, however, the cost price of export is expected to rise above the price level of last year. As for export, we expect the honey pomelo to enter the market in the middle of August. Overseas markets will have largely recovered from the outbreak of Covid-19. We expect honey pomelo export to proceed as usual."
Xiamen Rayen mainly exports honey pomelo to Europe and Russia. "The price-quality ratio of Chinese honey pomelo is quite good and the flavor is popular with most overseas consumers. However, as the number of Chinese export companies grows, so does the competition in the honey pomelo market. Frequent unfair competition creates chaos in this industry. In addition, some importers put pressure on the price. They only consider the price of honey pomelo, not the product quality. As a result, there are huge differences in product quality within the Chinese honey pomelo industry. Companies need to pay more attention to brand building so that companies like Rayen, where people value product quality, gain more business opportunities."
"We installed two automated production lines last year. This will help us guarantee the highest production quality for our clients, and also help us stand out in this competitive market. The automated production line integrates washing, selection, weighing, and packaging in one uniform process. We have a weekly capacity of almost 100 shipping containers," explained manager Yang. "The number of Chinese honey pomelo companies with automated production lines can be counted on the fingers of one hand, but we believe that automated facilities are the future of this industry. First, automated production lines reduce the chances that fruit is damaged during processing, which will reduce financial loss from product damage. Second, the mechanization of this industry will reduce labor cost. Furthermore, modern equipment is more efficient than the old machinery, which helps lighten the burden on our natural environment."
For more information:
Cherrie Yang - Manager
Xiamen Rayen Co., Ltd.
Tel.: +86 136 2500 8165
E-mail: cherrie@rayengroup.com