Chinese pear production volume stable

"This year, the production season of crown pears will start on 15 July, and will most likely last until the end of August. The export of Ya pears starts at the beginning of August, and ends at the end of September. Nationwide, the pear production volume is rather stable. It is 5% higher than last year. This is mainly because of the extreme weather last year, leaving the pears without enough light. This season's export volume and export price are difficult to predict, but it will probably be the same as last year," states Ms. Liu from Hebei Jinzhou Great Wall Economy and Trade.

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"We have a pear plantation of 1000 hectares (10,000 mu) and an apple plantation of 80 hectares (800 mu) in Hebei. We mainly produce Ya pears, crown pears and Feng Shui pears. We sell our produce under our own registered brands, such as 'Great Wall' and 'Fresh'. 40% of our pears we sell through traditional sales channels to distributors in first and second tier cities in China, such as Beijing Xinfadi and Guangzhou Jiangnan Fruit, and supermarkets in the Shijiazhuang area. The other 60% is exported through the Tianjin New Harbour and the Huangdao Port in Qingdao to middle and low end markets in South-East Asia, and middle and high end markets in America, Canada, Australia and Europe."

"In the past few years, our export market has been shifting gradually from the low and middle end market to the high end market. The demand for high quality Chinese pears from high end markets, such as America and Europe, has made us see a large business opportunity and a market gap that we can fill. Simultaneously, high end markets only accept pears that reach certain qualitylevels, so that leaves a high demand for our high quality pears. This has influenced our export volume, and especially to the Dutch market, where the acceptance is extremely low."

"Before the start of this year's season, we had already set the standards for agricultural waste, and we have strict controls in the production process. This will guarantee that our pears meet the export requirements. As an agricultural export company with a great reputation and a stable product quality, we hope to be able to export more pears to the Netherlands, so that even more foreign consumers can taste our special Chinese pears."