Over 80 government officials, importers, distributors and retailers will gather in Shanghai today (17 July) to celebrate the launch of the 2014 Australian orange season in the Chinese market.
Organised by peak industry body Citrus Australia and the Australian Trade Commission, the event signals the beginning of four months of promotional activity in the People’s Republic.
“For Chinese shoppers and their families, the sweet, safe and healthy flavour of Australian oranges can now be enjoyed from June to November,” sais Brent Moore, trade commissioner and consul commercial of the Australian Consulate-General in Shanghai. “Leading e-commerce players such as Taobao, Fruitday, Yummy77 and Supa Fresh will launch a pre-sale promotion for Australian orange from mid- July; while major supermarket chains like Sam’s Club, Walmart, Lotus and Tesco will also conduct orange promotions in stores throughout China this season.”
While China opened direct market access for Australian oranges in 2005, a restrictive protocol meant there was virtually no movement on the export front until 2011. Since then sales have grown exponentially, with exporters sending 120 containers to the Asian nation in 2012, while more than 420 containers were shipped in 2013. Citrus Australia estimates the volume could reach 1,000 containers this year.
Andrew Harty, general manager of market development for Citrus Australia, described the quality of this season’s orange crop is excellent, with high sugar content and medium acid content providing the perfect flavor balance for Chinese consumers.
Harty said the development of the Chinese market has followed a significant investment from the industry to ensure its production practices meet Chinese regulations. The number of Australian orange growers registered to ship fruit to China has risen from 400 in 2013 to over 1,000 in 2014.
“A very important aspect of orange farming in Australia is the widespread practice of Integrated Pest Management (IPM),” Harty explained. “IPM relies on farmers carefully monitoring pest levels on their farms, and mostly using beneficial insects for the pest control work. Every batch of oranges is tracked from the farm to the packhouse, and then on the ship during its voyage to China. This allows for extensive food safety checks all along the supply chain, allowing the Australian citrus industry to honestly claim that all Australian oranges are sweet, safe and healthy.”
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