China: Banana market still weak
"The banana high sales period starts in September and continues until February. Speaking for the who…"The banana high sales period starts in September and continues until February. Speaking for the whole of China, not much has changed in the production volumes for bananas compared to last year. But the price is slightly going up again," says Mr. Xu from Beijing Yongxin Hengchang Fruit.
Import market more receptive
"We have a banana wholesale, processing and delivery company that was founded in 2009. We have joined up with cultivation bases in Guangxi, Hainan, Yunnan and other regions. These bases have a total cultivation surface of 4000 hectares. The bananas produced here are sold all over China under the brand name 'Yongxin Hengchang'. In order to guarantee the quality, the technical personnel of the company are sent out to the main production regions, where they carry out quality control. Moreover, we import bananas from importing agencies in the Philippines and Ecuador. The varieties we import are sold in Beijing, Shanghai, Anhui and the wholesale markets and supermarkets of other regions. Through wholesale markets, we also reach Hebei, Shanxi and three more provinces in the North-East of China. Compared to China-produced bananas, imported bananas are more exquisite of taste. They are very loved on the market."
Ripening rooms prolong shelf life
"As everyone knows, the shelf life of bananas is about 2 days. The best method to prolong that shelf life is a ripening room. The bananas are ripened by circulating cold air in the room. Not only do the bananas look beautiful after that, but the shelf life can also be stretched to 4 days. At present, we rent the factory rooms, so it's not convenient to increase the scale of the procedure. We will wait until we have our own factory rooms, where we will install a ripening room."
"Relying on strenuous effort, abundant experience and advance processing facilities, we have already become the leading company in the Beijing area. Our daily sales amount to about one third of the total daily sales in wholesale markets in Beijing. In the future we will strive to increase our supply proportion to the market. We will extend the supply chain and build a prosperous future together with our partners.