China’s soaring demand for fruit benefits foreign fruit farmers
The
volume of avocados being imported has grown by nearly ten thousand times in
just a few years in China, while pricey imported cherries are jokingly regarded
as a new criterion for a person’s financial status by Chinese netizens.
Moreover, some Chinese people are even flying to Thailand or Malaysia to get a
bite of the local durian.
Most
of China’s imported cherries are from Chile. In 2018, the volume of cherries
imported from Chile accounted for 90 percent of the total imported to China,
according to China’s General Administration of Customs.
The
popularity of Chilean cherries in China is attributed mainly to their ripening
time, which is between November and January, right when China is celebrating
its most important festival-the Spring Festival, in a season that lacks
domestic fruits.
Bilateral
trade relations between China and Chile have also contributed a lot to the rise
of Chilean cherries in China, as in 2017, the two countries signed an upgraded
version of the free trade agreement, realizing a zero-tariff policy on 97
percent of products traded between the two nations, cherries being one such
product.
According
to a report by The Economist, because of China’s increasing demand for imported
cherries, Chilean company San Francisco Lo Garces has become the world’s
largest cherries producer, seeing its output grow by 25 times in 15 years.
As
the profit of cherrie-planting is
several times higher than that of other fruits, many Chilean fruit farmers who
were previously planting other fruits have turned to cherries, as they believe
that China’s soaring demand will continue to expand Chilean cherry exports.
In
the first week of the export season of 2018-2019, Chilean cherry exports to the
Far East market (mainly China) rose 17 percent year-on-year, according to a
report by the Chilean Cherries Committee of the Chilean Fruit Exporters
Association.
Besides
cherries, imported avocados have witnessed tremendous growth in the Chinese
market over recent years.
In
2010, China imported 2 tonnes of avocados, while in 2017, the volume had risen
to over 30,000 tonnes.
Such
dramatic growth is driven by China's emerging middle class, who are keen on
healthy food and have become enthusiastic consumers of avocados, according to
foreign media.
Statistics
from the Mexican Ministry of Economy showed that the country had exported about
$25.55 million worth of avocados to China in 2017, making China its eighth
largest export destination of avocados.
The
demand in China has been growing at a remarkable speed, noted Ramon Paz,
counselor of the Avocados Producer and Exporting Packers Association of Mexico
(APEAM), disclosing that most of the demand comes from consumers in big cities
such as Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou.
Chinese
millennials who travel overseas are contributing to the increase too, said
Ramon Paz.
Durian
has also seen increasing popularity in China. On April 17, 2018, after the
golden pillow durians of Thailand were released on Alibaba’s online grocery
platform Tmall Supermarket, 80,000 durians were sold within one minute,
weighing 200,000 kilograms in total.
(Source:
People's Daily Online)
Nov.
5, 2017, promoters work at a booth of durians at the Malaysia Durian Festival
in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. Photo from People’s Daily
Online
China’s soaring demand for fruit benefits foreign fruit farmers
Reviewed by PEOPLES MAIL
on
13:47
Rating:
No comments: