"China: "Yichang orange prices much higher than last year"

"We are now in the middle of the season for several orange breeds, such as Newhall and blood oranges. This year's production has decreased 20% from last year's. This is mainly because the fruit trees in Hubei suffered from a lot of rain between September and October. The current price is much high than last year's. The price for popular Newhall oranges, for example, increased 40%-60% from last year," states Mr. Yu Bingquan, an orange producer and seller in Hubei.

Freshly harvested oranges

Yu Bingquan in an orange field

"There are three main factors that have brought about this large price increase. Firstly, a drop in the supply has made for a higher price. Secondly, the fast development of the Yichang e-commerce has helped local traders to open and expand their sales channels. Lastly, in the past year, the raw material prices, for example for packaging, manpower, and transportation, have been rising constantly."

Wide orange fields

Orange production

"We are located in Yichang, Hubei. We have our own and collectively owned fields in Xingshan County and Zigui County of respectively 500 (5,000 mu) hectares and 6,000 hectares (60,000 mu). We mainly offer navel oranges and tangerines, seasonal vegetables and fresh ingredients. Our products are sold all over China under several different brands, such as 'Yi Wo', 'Yu Wo Liang Tian' and 'Wa Guo'."

An employee is loading goods

Premium fruit packaging

"Compared to other orange production regions, Hubei has two main market advantages. Firstly, Yichang produces large quantities of oranges, and it offers a wide range of breeds. From September until July of the next year, new oranges are constantly entering the market. Secondly, it has a geographical advantage. Because of the abundant rain and sufficient sunlight in Yichang, the oranges are juicy and delicious."

Juicy oranges with a thick skin

"Currently, we are mainly selling through the stores that we have opened on over 50 different e-commerce platforms. Simultaneously, we are also offering services to some of our e-commerce partners, and to some distributors and offline customers. In the future, we are hoping to join with some reputable traders, so that we can broaden our B2B business. Furthermore, because Yichang will become a free trade zone this year, we are also vigorously preparing our plans to expand to the foreign markets next year, so that we can start the export of our oranges and tangerines."

Yu Bingquan

Orange producer and seller in Hubei

Phone: +86 181 0717 9797