The hot weather in the summer does not affect the enthusiasm of the cherry market at all. Cherries from several producing areas come onto the market successively. Following the launch of domestic cherry and American cherry, the first batch of Uzbekistan's cherries was air-freighted to Beijing on June 5. It counts 10 pallets, 96 cartons per pallet, each packet weighs 5kg, the total weight of the freight being 4,550 kg.
It is reported that this first batch of Uzbekistan’s cherry would be exclusively distributed by Qingdao Xiangji. Mr. Wang Dechao, the responsible person of Qingdao Xiangji, told reporters that “Xiangji is the largest fruit wholesaler in Shandong Province with more than 20 years of experience in fruit business. Xiangji communicate with Uzbekistan since the beginning of the year and assisted its Uzbekistan collaborator in coordinating issues such as the entry of importing cherry into China, the air transportation route and custom clearance etc. Now Xiangji will distribute the Uzbekistan’s cherry as the exclusive importer in China.”
These first Uzbekistan cherries are sold in Guangzhou Jiangnan Wholesale Market, Shanghai Huizhan Wholesale Market, Qingdao Dongfangdingxin Whole-sale Market and Beijing Xinfadi Wholesale Market. The reporter paid a visit to the fruit wholesaler Taihechuangxin at A23 cold storage at Xinfadi-Cuixianyuan market in Beijing, Mr. Zhang from Taihechuangxin told the reporter, “The price of Uzbekistan’s cherry is very competitive: the wholesale price of the fruits with diameter of 28mm or more is about 450 RMB per 5kg; and their quality is better than domestically produced cherries. Only in a few hours of this morning, more than 40 cartons have been sold.”
The reporter tasted Uzbekistan cherry and American cherry. Unlike American cherries, the Uzbekistan’s cherries taste sour-sweet. American cherry has a red flesh, while Uzbekistan’s cherry has a white flesh. Overall, the hardness and the taste of Uzbekistan’s cherry are fairly good. Mr. Wang Dechao, the responsible person of Qingdao Xiangji, told the reporter that it’s the first time that Uzbekistan exports cherries to China. The sales are launched on a pilot basis and it is expected that the second batch of cherries would be sweeter.
It is reported that Uzbekistan is located in the inland of Central Asia and is a major fruit and vegetable planting country in Central Asia. Its cherry production ranks among the top ten in the world. It is also one of the first countries to support and participate in the “Belt and Road” construction in China. According to the data from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Uzbeki-stan has an annual output of 100,000 tons of cherries, ranking fifth in the world. It is one of the countries with the fastest growth in cherry exports in recent years.
The copyright of this article is belonged to Easywei Marketing & Consulting Co, Ltd. Easywei is a leading integrated marketing consulting firm in China specialized in fruit business, and used to work for ASOEX and OXEC Beijing to promote fruits from Chile and fruits from Peru. For more information about Easywei, please look up our website: www.easywei.cn
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