The apple season in China is ongoing. In recent years, in addition to the traditional large-scale producing areas, plateau apples from Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan (such as Zhaotong, Weining, and Daliang Mountain) have attracted attention one after another.
"Unlike the plain environment of the traditional producing areas, the plateau producing areas have special conditions such as regional microclimates and sufficient radiation because of their high altitude, which makes the apples planted more abundant in sugar and flavor and gives the market more choices. Plateau apples are developing steadily " Guangdong Houzhu Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. specializes in domestic high-end fruits, and Mr. Lin Zhaoming, from the company, introduced.
Figure: "Apple has a large range of ‘sugar heart’"
"Traditional apple-producing areas are mostly in the plain areas, and the growing environment is relatively regular. Take Weining, Guizhou in the plateau producing area as an example. It is mountainous, diverse and has a soft soil, rich in organic matter, and the planting methods are different, which makes apples have different flavors."
Houzhu Agriculture is an agent for "Yanghua Apple" produced in Weining, Guizhou. "There are many excellent orchards in the local area. They advocate planting and raising the land first, and then planting apples. Compared with other producing areas, Fuji varieties planted in this orchard are characterized by big “sugar hearts”, commonly known as "sugar explosions" in the industry, and the sugar heart rate is higher. In terms of market performance, compared with traditional large-scale producing areas, plateau apples produce less and are consumed quickly in the local market, so the external wholesale price will be higher. The wholesale price of the apples we represent is about 50% higher than that of apples in large-scale regular producing areas. In recent years, the sales have generally been smooth."
According to Lin, there are relatively many plateau apples on the market at present, because apples in the traditional main-producing areas usually need to be put into storage for one month after being picked to become sweet and are only then put on the market. "Compared with apples launched in the same period, plateau apples have lower acidity and a stronger fruit flavor. Some of these excellent brands have gradually gained market recognition in the past few years. This is the sales advantage of the branded plateau apple."
Talking about this year's sales situation, Lin said that due to the late cooling in Guizhou's producing areas this year, apples' "sugar explosion" status was delayed, which made the current sales not as good as before. "Now it takes about 2-3 days to sell out a truck, which is slower than in previous years. It is estimated that by the middle and late November, ‘Yanghua’ apples will reach the state of sugar explosion, and the sales volume will increase after the taste is in place. This year, the market price of apples is generally high, but this brand only sells apples from their own orchards, so the price is roughly the same as before, and it is convenient for quality control."
"Yanghua Apple" is an apple brand that helps agricultural agents, and most of them are packaged and sold in gift boxes. Houzhu Agriculture adopts the model of cooperating with the producing area or acting as a brand agent, and sells all kinds of domestic fruits in this season, including apples, winter jujubes, strawberries, and kumquats. Among them, the "Huoxing Winter Jujube" brand is the main product, and it has its own processing factory.