Domestic kiwi fruit will enter the Chinese market in large volumes in September. This year the weather conditions in production areas were great. Farmers are expecting an increased in production volume this season. The plantation of Qingdao Fengheyuan Ecological Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd. is located in Qingdao City, Shandong. The plantation covers an area of 100 hectares and produces around 100 tons of kiwi fruit per year. Company spokesperson Fu Guixin recently talked about conditions in Shandong kiwi fruit production areas.
Manager Fu introduced the conditions in the kiwi fruit plantation. "The kiwi fruit harvest in Qingdao production areas begins in early September. We expect the harvest season to continue until the end of October. Temperatures have been high, so the kiwi fruit is quickly growing bigger. The kiwi fruit looks good. And more recent rainfall has been beneficial for the kiwi fruit as well," said manager Fu. "Although it is too early to tell with certainty how large the production volume will be this year, the number of kiwi fruit on the vines is larger than last year. We expect both production volume and product quality to turn out very well this year."
Qingdao Fengheyuan primarily sells kiwi fruit in premium gift boxes. These gift boxes are sold via WeChat shops and e-commerce platforms. Their client audience consists of companies and other clients with a need for high-quality gifts. "We pack 15 pieces of kiwi fruit per box, and the price of a single kiwi fruit is around 10 yuan [1.47 USD], so the gift boxes cost 150 yuan [22.10 USD]. We have sold kiwi fruit at this price since 2015, and we will maintain this price during this season as well. The number of tourists who come to our plantation to pick their own kiwi fruit declined in the last few years because of the ongoing pandemic. Our offline sales volume decreased as well. However, more recently the outbreak of Covid-19 has been brought under control and the number of visitors to our plantation has gone up again. We expect this development to continue during this harvest season."
"We uphold ecological principles. We established an innovative plantation method that combines ecological principles with AI. We do not add any kind of agricultural chemicals, and we work hard to protect our kiwi fruit. For example, we imitate natural conditions, which means that we grow grass, oilseed rape, and castor-oil plants under the kiwi fruit trees to reduce the presence of insect pests and improve the organic quality of the soil. In addition, we prune four times a year to guarantee product quality and flavor," said manager Fu.
"Ecological plantation principles reduce the production volume. Our trees only produce about one fifth of the 10-15 kg that other kiwi fruit trees produce. The size of our kiwi fruit is also slightly smaller. However, ecological plantation maintains the original flavor and fragrance of kiwi fruit. Our clients can tell the difference, and they appreciate the quality of our kiwi fruit. Quality fruit will always find customers, even when the price is slightly higher."
In addition to traditional kiwi fruit, Qingdao Fengheyuan also grows 'precious red' kiwi fruit. "This kiwi fruit variety was developed by Northwest Agricultural Science and Technology University. Not only is this variety sweeter, but they are also unique in that they are edible as soon as they start ripening. Other kiwi fruit varieties remain hard throughout much of the ripening process, and only when the kiwi fruit begins to soften does the fruit become edible. The 'precious red' variety is immediately edible, which is far more convenient," said manager Fu. "This kiwi fruit variety enters the market around Mid-Autumn Festival [10 September, 2022] and the supply season continues until the middle of October."
For more information:
Xiao Tao
Qingdao Fengheyuan Ecological Agricultural Science and Technology Co., Ltd.
Tel.: +86 15753219272