"The kiwi berry harvest season in the Dandong Prefecture officially began on August 31st this year. The production volume doubled from 50 tons last year to 100 tons this year." This is according to Ms. Yu Wenxin, Market Manager for Dandong Risheng Linsheng Eco-agricultural Development Co., Ltd.
Laborers harvest kiwi berries
Kiwi berry orchard
"There are several important reasons for the sudden increase in production volume: first, our kiwi berry orchard is situated in a small basin in Dandong surrounded by mountains on four sides. These natural protective barriers helped protect the kiwi berry orchard from sudden cold spells and later cold weather between April and June this year. The protective barrier also limits the influence of insect pests. Secondly, we've carried out large-scale, fundamental, manual labor in the last 6-7 years to protect and improve the environment. This ensures an optimum growing environment for our kiwi berries."
Laborers harvest kiwi berries
"The kiwi berry industry in China is relatively new in comparison with other agricultural industries. Not only do consumers have a limited understanding of this fruit, but fruit retailers also know very little of kiwi berries. Furthermore, the distribution of production areas is somewhat scattered. The main kiwi berry production areas are in Ya'an, Sichuan, and Dandong, Liaoning. The overall production volume in Dandong is larger than in Ya'an. As for us, the Ya'an production of kiwi berries creates no competition at all. The main reason is that Ya'an kiwi berry orchards produce foreign kiwi berry varieties. They are different from our domestic kiwi berry varieties in fruit shape and flavor. Furthermore, the kiwi berries from these two production areas do not enter the market at the same time."
Processing factory
Processed kiwi berry products
"One of the advantages we have over other businesses in the kiwi berry industry is our integration of plantation, processing, and marketing. We are able to exercise proper control over our own product quality. The top-quality kiwi berries are sold as fresh fruit in supermarkets. Lesser-quality kiwi berries are processed as kiwi berry jam and kiwi juice, and sold throughout China and abroad."
Processed kiwi berry products
"Processed kiwi berry products have become more popular with consumers in the last two years. This is mostly because kiwi berries represent a green product and a green way of processing. This is also visually clear with such products as green cakes made from processed kiwi berries. Other kinds of fruit are unable to reproduce this effect. Kiwifruit turns yellow during processing, and avocados smell terrible after processing. About 40% of our processed kiwi berry products are delivered to domestic restaurants, while around 60% is exported to Japan."
Organic kiwi berries
"There are currently very few kiwi berry orchards in China that produce large volumes of kiwi berries. Most orchards cultivate and sell seedlings, which means that the overall number of kiwi berry trees continues to increase. Some kiwi berry orchard owners harvest their kiwi berries early to supply the market early and increase their market share, but this only increases the volume of poor-quality kiwi berries on the market. This gives consumers the wrong impression and harms market development. It is our opinion that the Chinese kiwi berry industry will improve under the influence of large-scale standardization, and only then will the market develop."
Yu Wenxin
Company name: Dandong Risheng Linsheng Eco-agricultural Development Co., Ltd.
Telephone number: +86 138 4159 8855
Telephone number: +86 188 4150 1117
E-mail address: 1062221942@QQ.com