Shandong had a very long winter this season, delaying flower blooming for up to 2 weeks, however the crop in general is around 20% higher than last year due to ideal weather conditions through out the summer.
Judging from the current size of the Shandong pears, we estimate that Shandong pears will be ready roughly around September 10 which is around one week later than last season while Fuji apples will be ready by around October 10. Other apple producing province like Shaanxi Fuji Apples will come always come out around 3 weeks earlier than Shandong Fuji. Every season there are always exporters trying to jump the gun by paying higher price to harvest the unmature Fuji early and make shipment as early as mid September. These apple will neither have color nor are they full of starch and no sugar. Please note that the early harvested Fujis are highly susceptible to bitter pit, so you might also be running the risk of receiving quite a few bitter pit fruit if you buy too early from Shandong Exporters.
We may be able to ship some early varieties such as Red coral, Gala, Red general ,Red Star and Golden delicious which will be two to three weeks earlier than Fuji, unless we can source the exportable quality and quantity at a competitive prices. We will then be able to supply our customers. Current prices of early variety fruits is extremely high due to strong domestic demand. Red coral apples (early gala) has been up to US$0.80 per kilo for sizes 113-150. These Red Coral apples are of exportable quality because of its pressure, and its low color. We are predicting gala prices to be up 20-30% than last year. Although apple quality and quantity seems much better this year, prices are almost never correlated. Exporting prices always depends on the domestic consumption of apples.
Please find below a detail summary of the conditions of the apples and pears in Shandong.
Apples
Overall, apple trees look ready for a big year. Apple trees bloomed well this year with an approximate increase of 20%. We had a steady and healthy amount of rainfall during May to stimulate apple growth. Looking at some sample orchards, we find leaves are very healthy(which benefits apple quality). We also took some bags off the apples(please see pictures), and find apples to be very clean with less russet and limb rub from last season. The apple mostly free from russet is due to quick showers instead oflong steady rains during the months of June, July and early August. That is ideal dry weather for gowning apple. If the weather continues to hold for the months of August and September we expect a big and clean fruit and better quantity and sizes for this season.The color of the apple cannot be determined until the bags are taken off from the apple in early October and we need nice and sunning days and cool nights in order for the apple to color well.
Shandong Pears
Shandong pears are becoming less and less popular in China, and thus more and more farmers are cutting them down. The quantity substantially decreased over the years. The hail storm during March has hit the Shandong pear growing region further decreasing the quantity of exportable pears. The prices should remain pretty stable because domestic demand for these pears is not strong. We are looking at a small year for Shandong pears with quality not as clean as last season. We should be ale to quote Shandong pear for shipment around September 10th.
Alfa Fruit Packers is one of the leading packing companies in China. Alfa Fruit Packers is located in Qixia, a city situated in the inland of the beautiful Jiaodong peninsula of the eastern part of Shandong province. It was built on three hectares of land that include the packing plant, warehouse, cold storage for pre-cooling, dormitory and dinning facilities for over 200 workers. Our loading docks are adjacent to the cold storage area for easy and fast loading of containers.
Contact:
Mr. Steven Leung
Tel: 86-535-5383888
Fax: 86-535-5383777
alfafruit@gmail.com
www.alfafruit.com
Judging from the current size of the Shandong pears, we estimate that Shandong pears will be ready roughly around September 10 which is around one week later than last season while Fuji apples will be ready by around October 10. Other apple producing province like Shaanxi Fuji Apples will come always come out around 3 weeks earlier than Shandong Fuji. Every season there are always exporters trying to jump the gun by paying higher price to harvest the unmature Fuji early and make shipment as early as mid September. These apple will neither have color nor are they full of starch and no sugar. Please note that the early harvested Fujis are highly susceptible to bitter pit, so you might also be running the risk of receiving quite a few bitter pit fruit if you buy too early from Shandong Exporters.
We may be able to ship some early varieties such as Red coral, Gala, Red general ,Red Star and Golden delicious which will be two to three weeks earlier than Fuji, unless we can source the exportable quality and quantity at a competitive prices. We will then be able to supply our customers. Current prices of early variety fruits is extremely high due to strong domestic demand. Red coral apples (early gala) has been up to US$0.80 per kilo for sizes 113-150. These Red Coral apples are of exportable quality because of its pressure, and its low color. We are predicting gala prices to be up 20-30% than last year. Although apple quality and quantity seems much better this year, prices are almost never correlated. Exporting prices always depends on the domestic consumption of apples.
Please find below a detail summary of the conditions of the apples and pears in Shandong.
Apples
Overall, apple trees look ready for a big year. Apple trees bloomed well this year with an approximate increase of 20%. We had a steady and healthy amount of rainfall during May to stimulate apple growth. Looking at some sample orchards, we find leaves are very healthy(which benefits apple quality). We also took some bags off the apples(please see pictures), and find apples to be very clean with less russet and limb rub from last season. The apple mostly free from russet is due to quick showers instead oflong steady rains during the months of June, July and early August. That is ideal dry weather for gowning apple. If the weather continues to hold for the months of August and September we expect a big and clean fruit and better quantity and sizes for this season.The color of the apple cannot be determined until the bags are taken off from the apple in early October and we need nice and sunning days and cool nights in order for the apple to color well.
Shandong Pears
Shandong pears are becoming less and less popular in China, and thus more and more farmers are cutting them down. The quantity substantially decreased over the years. The hail storm during March has hit the Shandong pear growing region further decreasing the quantity of exportable pears. The prices should remain pretty stable because domestic demand for these pears is not strong. We are looking at a small year for Shandong pears with quality not as clean as last season. We should be ale to quote Shandong pear for shipment around September 10th.
Alfa Fruit Packers is one of the leading packing companies in China. Alfa Fruit Packers is located in Qixia, a city situated in the inland of the beautiful Jiaodong peninsula of the eastern part of Shandong province. It was built on three hectares of land that include the packing plant, warehouse, cold storage for pre-cooling, dormitory and dinning facilities for over 200 workers. Our loading docks are adjacent to the cold storage area for easy and fast loading of containers.
Contact:
Mr. Steven Leung
Tel: 86-535-5383888
Fax: 86-535-5383777
alfafruit@gmail.com
www.alfafruit.com
