First 2020 Shipment of Chilean Cherries Arrives in Shanghai
28 October 2020
On the 24th October the first Chilean cherry arrivals of the season in China, 98 air freighted cartons, arrived in Shanghai and were sold and promoted at Shanghai Huizhan Market. They were exported by Dole and imported by Kingo.
This first variety was Earlise with Red colour and whiteish flesh. The next variety to arrive will be Brooks. According to Chilean reports, this year Lapins will increase in volume and Santina volumes will be similar to previous years.
The wholesale selling price of first shipment was RMB1200-1250 for Jumbo. RMB1050-1100 for XL and RMB850-900 for Large.
According to Kingo, the 2020-2021 Chilean cherry season will have approximately 15% more volume, as new trees planted 5-6 years ago start to bear fruit. Total production volume will be about 60 million 5Kg boxes of which it is estimated that 90%, equaling about 14000 containers, will be destined for China.
The production season is also longer. The orchards start to pick from the last two weeks of October. Airfreight of Chilean cherries is from the end of October until to mid-December. Peak harvest is from the end of November to early December and the bulk of sea freight will start then. The peak arrival time should be the first three weeks in January. As Chinese New Year is 12 February the usual pre-Chinese New Year sales period will be extended. According to the promotion there has been plenty of water in Chile and the fruit quality and shelf life should be better than last year.
Because of pandemic there are not enough passenger flights. The airfreight will mainly be through air freight charters. If the need of chartered flight grows the freight cost will also increase. The volume of airfreighted Chilean cherries is likely to reduce significantly this season. Regarding sea freight It is estimated there will be 25 fast vessels this season arriving in Hong Kong every Tuesday and Thursday. Shipping schedules indicate that the first arrival of a Chilean fast vessel carrying cherries will be 4 December in Hong Kong.
Packaging this season will see some changes to meet different market needs. As well as 5kg packing, a heat sealed 1kg original package will be introduced. This top sealing technology and can be reopened and sealed to better control the quality of fruit inside. Kingo will also offer more 2kg and 2.5kg packs for the gift market. It is estimated Chilean cherries will be available in all channels from Christmas and come to the peak sales around the Tmall Chinese New Year Sales Festival period (06-16 January 2021).
Source: International Fruit and Vegetable Blog (From Kingo Promotion Information)
