Winter jujubes entered the Chinese market almost two months ago, and the production season of winter jujubes in Xinjiang greenhouse farms is now coming to an end. The purchase price in production areas has dropped somewhat.
Mr. He Zhiguang, spokesperson for Hejing Hundred Fruit Orchard Specialized Agricultural Cooperation, recently talked about current conditions in the Chinese winter jujube industry. He first introduced the situation in production areas: "The regular retail season of winter jujubes begins every year on the 20th of July and continues until the 10th of October. This year the harvest was delayed by more than twenty days because the weather was quite cool early in the season. That is why winter jujubes only entered the Chinese market in large volumes around the 10th of August. However, we grow our winter jujubes in greenhouses, so the weather conditions have very little impact on the product quality. The sugar content of our winter jujubes is around 28%-30%. The fruit peel is sleek and glossy and the fruit size is reasonable."
"The express delivery of Xinjiang products was temporarily halted earlier this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but local government appreciates the value of transport and made several adjustments, so that express delivery was quickly restored. Shipping products from production areas to first- and second-tier cities throughout the country only takes about 2-3 days with air freight. Our deliveries were not interrupted by the pandemic."
"We harvested around 300 tons of winter jujubes. The price remained high until Mid-Autumn Festival [21 September, 2021] was over. At its peak the wholesale price in production areas was around 42 yuan [6.50 USD] per kg, while the retail price could be as high as 80 yuan [12.38 USD] per kg. Large volumes of open-field winter jujubes from production areas in Shaanxi, Hebei, Shanxi, and Shandong entered the Chinese market in the middle of September. That is when the price of winter jujubes from Xinjiang greenhouses began to come down. The season of Xinjiang winter jujubes is now almost over. The wholesale purchase price in production areas is around 25 yuan [3.87 USD] per kg."
Hejing Hundred Fruit Orchard is located in the Yanqi basin, in the northeast of the Tarim basin. Our winter jujube plantation covers an area of circa 67 hectares. The Yanqi basin is a very dry area with little rainfall, and the difference in temperature between day and night is big. In addition, the basin is always frost-free and receives plentiful sunshine. These unique weather conditions make the area very suitable for the production of winter jujubes. The water supply comes from glacial meltwater and snow."
Hejing Hundred Fruit Orchard takes advantage of the unique natural conditions in the Yanqi basin, and makes use of greenhouses to further guarantee excellent product quality. Of course the cost price of greenhouse winter jujubes is higher, but so is the product quality. The flavor of greenhouse winter jujubes is amazing, and they also enter the market earlier than open-field winter jujubes. All of these advantages make the higher cost price a worthwhile investment.
"And we pay close attention to plantation management. We use organic fertilizer and do not add agricultural chemicals. That is why our winter jujubes were awarded the Green Food Certificate by the National Green Food Development Center in 2018. Apart from organic fertilizer, we also sprinkle the jujubes with cow's milk during the growing process, which adds to their unique flavor. The winter jujubes are sprinkled with milk 3-4 times when they are almost ripe. That is why the winter jujubes have a unique milky flavor."
For more information:
Mr. He Zhiguang
Hejing Hundred Fruit Orchard Specialized Agricultural Cooperation
Tel.: +86 176 9148 5868
Tel.: +86 181 9646 2008
