“Last year we restarted our apple export to India. India is a relatively new market for Chinese apple export and is less stable than other, more established, export markets. Our export to India gained momentum when apple prices tumbled down on the domestic market earlier in the season. We started export to India in 2003, but over the last three years we had put a hold on it. Until this season, when domestic apple prices declined so substantially that new export programmes where becoming attractive. We currently sell around 70% of our crop on the domestic Chinese market and 30% internationally,” Miss Joey Lee of Qing Xin Manor explains.
Strong domestic competition boosts export
“Our primary export variety is the Fuji apple. Earlier in the season, domestic Fuji prices were extremely low. Many smaller growers were selling apples directly to the market. There was no control and relentless price competition. This gave an impulse to our export programme. Expenses and transport costs are high for exporting companies. In addition, there is a significant risk. The market can change during the time it takes to transport produce overseas. However, when the price difference between the domestic and export market is substantial, it is worth while taking these risks.”
Alternative export markets
“In previous seasons, we exported to Thailand and Indonesia. Thailand is still a strong export market. Indonesia, however, has almost entirely closed its boarders for Chinese products. Important emerging markets are Russia and Kazakhstan. Both countries lack domestic fresh fruit production, and export prices are higher than those of other export destinations. The Hua Niu apple, a Chinese red apple variety, is a popular variety on the Thai market. Export prices for the Hua Niu are currently around 1,000 USD per ton FOB. A couple of weeks ago, export prices were still as low as 800 USD per ton. Very attractive for international buyers.”
“At the moment we sold out our entire Hua Niu crop. We still have Fuji apples in stock. Fuji apples are starting to perform better on the domestic market. We are also exporting them to Russia. Local demand for the Hua Niu apple is limited. More popular on the Chinese market are the Fuji and the Royal Gala.”
Online branding and E-commerce
“We run an online shop on Taobao and on Alibaba. Both shops aim for the domestic market. We are launching a Alibaba shop that will cater for the export market. We are also developing our own brand. This will help us strengthen our online presence even further. We source our apples form different growers. In the future we will invest in in-house production. Having our own production, together with our own brand, will help us to sell our crop at better prices and will protect our apples against extreme price fluctuations.”
