"Pomelo is our main fruit export to Europe. It is gaining more ground in the European and Russian markets and our export volume increases year by year, though this year the export conditions have changed a little." As Ms. Vickie Lin from Bona Industry (Xiamen) Co., Ltd. explains: “ Thanks to good weather this season, the pomelo crop increased, which is nice, though the size of the pomelos is also bigger, which has a negative influence on our export volume. Normally 1,0-1,5 kilo pomelos are the right size for export to Europe. About 8 to 12 pomelos fit in one 11 kilo package, so now our export percentage is going down, because not enough right sizes are available."
“We mainly export to Europe and Russia. September to December is our peak season for export and we can extend the season to February. Due to the quick development of domestic e-commerce, we also sell a lot of pomelo through e-commerce. Their demand size is the same as the export size which is leading to price increases and brings pressure to the export market. The volume for export decreased in the beginning and middle period of the sales season but increased in the late season. Furthermore, currently there are a lot of different varieties on the market, so there is a lot to choose from, and domestic consumption of pomelos is decreasing, which makes the competition even fiercer. Despite of this situation,we reached our target volume.” Mentioned Vickie Lin.
“Despite these conditions, the price variation this year was similar to other years. At the beginning of the season prices are high, in the middle the prices tend to go a bit down and at the end of the season prices go up again. The Chinese pomelo season starts in August in Guangdong, followed by Pinghe in September and ends in December. Currently the Sichuan season will continue until February 2019. In domestic market, our pomelos needs to compete with oranges and mandarins, which are very popular now and with big volumes.”
“Our main production is located in Pinghe, Fujian, which produces the highest quality pomelo in China. This is the origin of the pomelo and therefore the quality and appearance from Pinghe is much better than from other places. In the last several years, the pomelo price was quite good, which has encouraged other regions to produce pomelos as well, though they did not reach the same quality as those from Pinghe. In Pinghe farmers already have over more than 20 years of experience with growing pomelos on a large scale.”
The headquarters of Bona Industry (Xiamen) Co., Ltd. is located in Xiamen. They have their own orchards, but are also working together with farmers association. To ensure their high quality and safety for EU market especially for Germany market, they implemented a strict Plant Protection Program, which starts at the beginning of the season in March. Vickie Lin explains: “Before the new season starts we instruct and train the farmers to follow our Plant Protection Program, which include topics as: select the chemical from the program, strict control in harvest interval, more usage on biological pesticides and fertilizers. In this way we can guarantee that our pomelos are safe and tasty to eat and can maintain their high quality.”
“Besides pomelos, we also export mandarin, grapes, pear, ginger and garlic. To extend our network in Europe, we will also participate in the Berlin Fruit Logistica in February.
