Chile is located in South America. The broad Pacific Ocean and the Andes Mountains together created a paradise for cherry trees. The unique weather conditions stimulate the growth of cherries. The huge difference between temperatures during the day and at night are particularly helpful for the accumulation of sugars in Chilean cherries. That is why they are so large and so sweet.
Chilean cherries have been popular with Chinese consumers for many years. This is not just because their product quality is great, but also because the Chilean cherry season starts when Chinese cherries have already left the market. Furthermore, Chilean cherries enter the Chinese market during the traditional Chinese Spring Festival period, when Chinese consumers demand for fruit reaches a peak.
CEO Xie Jinshan inspects cherries in a Chilean cherry orchard
Chilean cherry processing factory
This is a particularly challenging year for people in the fruit industry. The Covid-19 pandemic has greatly slowed down the global market and consumer power has weakened as a result. The sales of domestic fruit and imported fruit were greatly affected by the outbreak of Covid-19 in the first half of this year. In the second half, however, the market showed signs of recovery. The overall supply volume improved greatly. Chilean cherry traders take this as a sign of change and hope for surprising sales during the upcoming Chilean cherry season one month from now.
Chilean cherry orchard of Shenzhen Gold Anda Agricultural Science and Technology Development Co., Ltd.
Chilean cherry processing factory
"Our cherry orchard in Chile covers an area of more than 500 hectares. Our supply volume will exceed last year's supply volume, but not by much. We will start flying cherries to China in November this year. Then we will switch to sea freight as the cherry season proceeds. The last shipment will arrive in China by the end of February next year.
"The core of our sales season will fall between late November and the 23rd of December. As for the overall production volume, this year the Chilean cherry production volume increased by around 10% in comparison with last year. There are several reasons for this development. First, the overall surface area devoted to cherry plantation in Chile expanded this year. Second, many trees have reached their most productive years. Third, the weather has been stable this year and favorable for the growth of cherries.
"The production has now officially begun, and judging from current conditions, the harvest is going to be abundant this year." This is according to Xie Jinshan, CEO of Gold Anda Agricultural Science and Technology Development Co., Ltd. (hereafter referred to as "Gold Anda").
Chilean cherry processing factory
Gold Anda cherries
According to manager Xie, "the outbreak of Covid-19 had a huge impact on the domestic market. In order to reduce financial risk, we cut down our import volume by nearly 50%. At the same time, we focused on relatively reliable import products. We also expanded our domestic activities and strengthened domestic sales channels. However, we are carefully optimistic about the upcoming Chilean cherry season.
"This year we are unable to transport small volumes of Chilean cherries aboard passenger planes, so we ship all our Chilean cherries on board chartered flights. That has significantly increased the cost price of air-freighted cherries. Whether the first air-freighted cherries will bring more profit than the cherries that arrive by sea is difficult to tell."
Gold Anda cherries
"Chinese Spring Festival came relatively late in 2020, which extended the sales season and brought all kinds of commercial opportunities. This year the sales season will be more stable. The price is also likely to be lower than last year because the production volume increased, and the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic are not yet over. Buyers are still hesitant to purchase large volumes. As for Gold Anda, our plan is to start the sales season early and focus on bringing our products to more third- and fourth-tier cities throughout China. About half our sales will go through wholesale markets and the other 50% will be sold through supermarkets."
Chilean cherries
Gold Anda was established in 2006. After years of development, the company is now one of the leading companies in the Chinese fruit industry. This modernized company integrates plantation, research and development, processing, sales, and e-commerce services, as well as import trade. Gold Anda has branch offices and packaging factories in Australia, Chile, South Africa, and Thailand.
For more information:
Xie Jinshan - CEO
Shenzhen Gold Anda Agricultural Science and Technology Development Co., Ltd.
Website: www.goldanda.com
Tel.: +86 755 2515 4488
E-mail: xjs@goldanda.com