The Dandong strawberry, produced in Liaoning Province, is a well-known strawberry in China. It can be in the market as early as the end of October and the beginning of November. This production season, the purchase price of Dandong strawberries in the initial stage is as high as ￥200-￥240/kg, which is 20%-25% higher than in the same period last year, and it is still in short supply.
Recently, Freshplaza spoke to Mr. Ma Tingdong, from Dandong Shengye Berry Professional Cooperative, to understand the production and market performance of Dandong strawberries this season.
"Thanks to the development of a low-temperature pre-cooling treatment to promote early cultivation technology in Dandong, strawberries are on the market about one month earlier than conventional cultivation, thus obtaining a good price.
"However, this early cultivation technology is extremely demanding, and some growers decided not to use it this year after trying it in the previous production season. Therefore, the production of early-ripening strawberries in this production season has decreased by about 50% compared with last year, which caused the price rise earlier.
"In terms of quality, this year's strawberries have a good taste. The fruit was smaller than in previous years at the beginning of the market, but it has gradually grown in size later.”
Regarding the impact of weather conditions, Mr. Ma said that there was a lot of snow this season, which reduced the sweetness of strawberries. In addition, because strawberries are grown in greenhouses, the impact of the weather has been greatly reduced.
Talking about the market performance of this production season, Mr. Ma said: "Looking at the price, the purchase price at the beginning was higher than in previous years, and the supply exceeded demand, but the price fell earlier than in previous years. The reason is that in the past, a considerable part of strawberries was sold online, but this production season was affected by the pandemic and the logistics were not smooth, resulting in a drop in prices. On the whole, the current sales situation is roughly the same as that of previous years, and the sales growth of a single channel is lower than that of previous years, but the increase in sales channels has made the overall sales level out. "
In addition to domestic sales, Dandong strawberries are also sold to Hong Kong, exported to Southeast Asian countries, and were recently exported to Kenya in small quantities.
Regarding export performance, according to Mr. Ma, due to the impact of the exchange rate, coupled with tight air freight space and high prices, the current export volume has decreased by one-third compared with last year, and the export price has also decreased by about 20% year-on-year.
"Due to the appreciation of the US dollar and the depreciation of the Japanese and Korean won, strawberries from Japan and South Korea seem relatively cheap in overseas markets, which has an impact on our export prices. On the other hand, although there is a demand for Chinese strawberries in the Southeast Asian market, the delivery is not smooth due to the space and price of air freight. With the relaxation of pandemic prevention and control measures this year, I believe this situation will improve. "
Before the Chinese New Year is the peak period of fruit sales, the market price also rises accordingly. According to Mr. Ma, the pre-holiday strawberry price this year increases about a week earlier than before, and the main reason is that e-commerce live broadcasts have boosted sales.
Dandong Shengye Berry Professional Cooperative has an orchard area of about 800 hectares and has its own 5,300 square meters of cold storage and export fruit packaging factory. It is a demonstration of our national farmers' professional cooperatives. With "Shengye Guoyuan" as its own brand, its products are strawberry, blueberry and kiwiberry. The business includes planting, primary processing, domestic sales and export trade, and sales channels cover wholesale markets, offline supermarkets, and e-commerce sales.
