중국 이과류(심) insights

Ten years ago, Rockit Apple entered the Chinese market, transforming from an ordinary fruit to a healthy snack with a single small apple. At the recently concluded Asian International Fruit and Vegetable Exhibition, Rockit officially launched its new Gold Barrel—the Gold Selection series. The International Fruit and Vegetable Report interviewed Rockit's Global Marketing Director Julian Smith and Rockit's Greater China District General Manager Cullen Zhang (Zhang Chitao) on-site. Unlike traditional apples sold by weight, Rockit chose to drive marketing with a brand mindset, promoting around consumer scenarios, successfully establishing Rockit as a world-class apple brand beloved by consumers. As Julian said, "Through design and creativity, we make consumers feel that Rockit is not only worth the price but also brings joy and a sense of participation, leading to continuous repurchases—this is the goal Rockit has always pursued." Zhang Chitao added that Rockit, as a high-end fruit ...

The 19th China Fruit Juice Conference attracted nearly 300 fruit juice producers, suppliers, traders, retailers, equipment and material suppliers, experts, scholars, and representatives from associations in 20 countries and regions including Europe, the United States, Canada, South Africa, Australia, Japan, and India. This conference featured a rich array of keynote speeches and panel discussions on topics such as the analysis of China's food and agricultural trade, the supply and demand situation for Chinese apple juice in the 2025 season, insights into China's fruit juice industry, the development of tropical fruit juice in China, global market outlook for orange juice, trends in the European apple market, a pineapple juice industry report, and a global analysis of fruit juice supply and demand. Outside the venue, there were small exhibitions from fruit juice and related companies. Conference attendees made full use of the platform provided by the China Fruit Juice Conference to engage in in-depth exchanges and analysis of domestic and international production and market conditions, and to widely explore and discuss trade cooperation and negotiations for the new production season.

In September, the autumn moon pears began to hit the market in large quantities. Currently, the main production areas of autumn moon pears in China are concentrated in Laiyang, Shandong, Dangshan, Anhui, and Wei County, Hebei, with the performance of each production area this year being quite different. Laiyang, Shandong, as the core production area of autumn moon pears, has taken a "fewer but better" development path this year. According to statistics, the planting area of autumn moon pears in Laiyang is nearly 70,000 acres, with a yield of 180,000 tons. Although the total yield decreased by 8% compared to last year, the quality has significantly improved. Thanks to sufficient sunlight in August, the average sugar content of local autumn moon pears reached 14.5°, a new high in nearly five years, and the high-quality fruit rate increased from 65% last year to 78%. In terms of price, the base price of Laiyang premium pears (85mm or more without blemishes) exceeded 4 yuan/jin, a 15% increase year-on-year. Many fruit farmers, after reducing production, have turned to the gift box market, with an average increase in income of 2,000 yuan per acre. Rizhao Town in Laixi, as an important surrounding production area of Laiyang, produces 60,000 tons of autumn moon pears annually from over 20,000 acres, with products exported to more than 10 countries including Russia, Thailand, and Vietnam, selling for over 10,000 yuan per ton at market price. The Dangshan production area in Anhui has suffered from severe disaster impacts. This year, cork disease suddenly attacked the autumn moon pear production area in Dangshan, with the affected area exceeding 30%. Due to appearance and taste issues, the diseased fruit is difficult to sell, causing the base price of ordinary pears to drop to 1.2 yuan/jin, a significant decrease compared to last year. To reduce losses, local fruit farmers have chosen to harvest early and sell at low prices, while some diseased fruit is processed into pear paste and other products. The Wei County production area in Hebei faced high-temperature challenges this year. Continuous high temperatures exceeding 38°C in July caused early harvesting of autumn moon pears locally, with the high-quality fruit rate dropping from 70% last year to 55%. However, Wei County achieved good damage control through optimizing cold chain logistics, with the turnover rate of local cold storage increasing by 20%, and the loss rate controlled at 8%, 5 percentage points below the industry average. In mid-August, the demand for back-to-school season preparations accelerated sales, with early harvested fruit mainly sold to southern markets, maintaining a wholesale price of 2.2 yuan/jin. Affected by the different qualities of various production areas, the price of autumn moon pears this year has shown a clear trend of polarization. The low-end market is mainly composed of early harvested fruit from Dangshan and Wei County, priced between 1.2-1.8 yuan/jin, with these products mainly flowing into the wholesale market for daily bulk sales. The mid-range market is dominated by ordinary fruit from Laiyang and high-quality fruit from Wei County, with a price range of 2.2-2.8 yuan/jin, accounting for 60% of the total sales, and is the main force in family consumption. The high-end market is occupied by Laiyang premium pears and Yancheng ecological pears, priced between 3.5-4.2 yuan/jin, mainly sold in gift boxes, especially with sales in the two weeks before the Mid-Autumn Festival accounting for 45% of the annual sales. Terminal market distributors generally prefer products from Shandong, believing that their taste is more reliable. In terms of channels, e-commerce has become an important growth engine for the sales of autumn moon pears this year. Data shows that the sales volume of pears on platforms such as Douyin and Pinduoduo increased by 25% year-on-year, with autumn moon pears accounting for over 70% of the sales. In the Dongfang Zhenxuan August autumn moon pear special event, a 4.5 jin family gift box (sold for 49.9 yuan) sold 20,000 units in a single day, selling out in 10 minutes. Merchants reported that the profit from live-streaming channels is 30% higher than that of traditional channels, with a repurchase rate exceeding 35%.