The first batch of air freight cherries in the 2021-2022 Chilean cherry season arrived at the Jiangnan market in Guangzhou, with a total of 185 boxes of cherries, all of which are BROOKS (early varieties: Brooks, reddish, acidic). The opening price specifications are roughly 1200-1800 yuan / 10 kg box from small to large, and the first batch is almost every year at this price. According to this year's first sea freight car has been loaded from Chile on November 19, plus the customs declaration quarantine time, the estimated port call time is around December 19. At present, there are still air freight cars on the market, and the prices are relatively expensive.
Later, with the arrival of the sea, the price will gradually fall. Many people are curious about how different the difference between shipping and air freight is, don't worry, let's look down slowly.
From the perspective of the taste of the cherry, whether it is delicious or not is mainly determined by these factors, and there is no doubt that the freshness of air freight will definitely be better. Other aspects need to be analyzed from these:
(1) Varieties and grades of cherries
(2) The origin and production period of cherries
(3) Local climate and planting conditions
(4) Picking, packaging, preservation, transportation and other links
# Varieties and grades of cherries #
In fact, there are many varieties of sweet cherries in Europe, mainly common varieties. In order to facilitate viewing, Guo Ge let our editor directly make a picture, more clearly and clearly see some differences in the variety.
For early ripening cherries, due to their short shelf life, the first choice is obviously air freight; for medium-ripening and late-ripening cherries varieties, the difference between air and sea is more reflected in changes in the state of the branches (darkening and dehydration), and less changes in nutrition and edible taste. In addition to freshness, in fact, the difference in taste is not very large. Different varieties of cherries will be different from color, size, sweetness, hardness, and time to market, and the characteristics are different, the taste is different, and each leads the way.
At present, the specification identification of the world's sweet cherries is roughly based on the two classifications of "ROW" and "J":
Northern hemisphere exporting countries such as the United States and Canada use "ROW" (commonly known as "row") as the standard;
Southern hemisphere exporters such as Chile, Australia and New Zealand use "J" (Short for Jumbo) as the standard, and the higher the grade, the higher the price.
# Origin and production period of cherry seeds #
There are two major producing regions of cherry seeds, the southern hemisphere and the northern hemisphere, the northern hemisphere is the United States and Canada, and the southern hemisphere is Chile and Australia. The northern hemisphere overlaps with the market time of our domestic big cherries.
Chelan Cherry, USA
At present, the Cherry countries that can be exported to China are the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Chile, Australia, Argentina, Turkey, Uzbekistan and other countries, but the common ones on the market are from the United States, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, etc., of which the United States and Chile have the largest cargo volume, and New Zealand and Australia take high-end air freight.
New Zealand cherries
New Zealand cherries introduction stamp → cherries thousands, can use the word "most" to describe what is New Zealand?
Tasmanian cherry
Australian Cherry Introduction Stamp → about Australian Tasmanian Cherry Science Popularization
Figure: Seasonal tables of common cherries exporting countries
Chilean cherries produce up to 4 months, and the production period is in the winter of our country
American cherries are produced in China during the summer
# Local climate and planting conditions #
The flowering and fruit setting period of cherries in winter requires the temperature to be maintained below 7 degrees Celsius for a long time, in hours, early maturing varieties are 300-700 hours, medium-ripening varieties are 800-1000 hours, and late-maturing varieties are more than 1000 hours. Low temperatures are good for sugar accumulation, that is, the longer the low temperature time, the sweeter the fruit. Therefore, the sweetness of late-ripening cherries will be relatively high.
Photo: Cornell
Standardized cultivation methods: For example, the cultivation technology of Chilean cherry is basically synchronized with European and American countries, and all technical links have been very mature. The planting area of cherry seeds is generally 200-300 acres. Self-flowering varieties such as Labins, Sweetheart, and Santina mostly use a single variety to build a garden, while Brooks, Binku, Rennie and other varieties need to be equipped with pollinator trees.
# Picking, packing, preservation, transportation, etc #
There are many rumors about cherries, because the long transport time to reach the country is generally almost 20-30 days and it is not bad. So the rumors of preservatives came. Cherries span more than 2,000 kilometers and arrive in China after more than 20 days, and they can still remain fresh as a result of a combination of factors.
How did the cherry get to us?
Orchard picking - > moisture truck to the processing plant - > cold water pre-cooling for 12-20 minutes - > cold storage pre-cooling for 8-12 hours - > processing line screening of fruit grains - > into the box sealing - > board packaging - > Ultimate cold treatment (more than 10 hours, requiring the internal temperature of the core to reach 0 degrees Celsius) - > loading port - > transport to the port - > clearance and listing
Cherry picking
Pre-cooled
(1) Picking pre-cold: After harvesting the cherries, the life activities have not ended. The material conversion and renewal of cellular molecules, including the maintenance of cell results, etc., require sufficient energy support, and these require the respiration of cherries to decompose their own organic matter to be realized. The ambient temperature of the cherry under the picking reaches about 20 ° C, and the high-intensity respiration will inevitably lead to the reduction of organic matter in a large number of cherries, and cause corruption when serious.
Pre-cooling data on the quality of cherries
In order to prolong the freshness and storage time of cherries, water pre-cooling is carried out after picking to reduce the metabolism of cherries. It must then be transported to the sorting plant within 3-4 hours. Before sorting, the most critical step is to pre-cool the water. Water pre-cooling is through the slightly lower temperature of the water, the calories carried by the cherries are taken away, the cell activity of the cherries is also weakened by the decrease in body temperature, and the respiration is no longer "intense and frequent", so that the cherries extend the preservation cycle without a significant reduction in quality.
sift
(2) Screening
Enterprises that export cherries often invest heavily in the purchase of the most advanced sorting equipment, which can accurately detect the weight, sweetness and acidity, size and size of cherries, including whether there are internal defects. In addition to sorting more accurately, the main purpose is to shorten the time and avoid the effect of water pre-cooling all "abandoned". After the water is pre-cooled, the cherries enter the sorting preparation through the conveyor device, and after a series of operations, the cherries enter the next environment through different outlets, that is, packing and packing.
Sort the packaging
(3) Packaging
After sorting and grading, the car is labeled in size, grade, name according to the requirements, and then placed in a container with refrigeration function. In the packaging, the cherry is not vacuum packaging, but through the method of modified atmosphere packaging, by increasing the concentration of nitrogen, reducing the concentration of oxygen to extend the shelf life, because nitrogen can inhibit the growth of bacteria, so as to achieve the efficacy of preserving fruit.
The plastic bag of the cherry and the special paper on the bottom of the cherry will be attached, which looks ordinary, but in fact, they are also bio-preserved.
After picking the fruit, it is placed at low temperature, then low temperature cleaning, cold air drying, screening (size, color, advantages and disadvantages), bagging, nitrogen filling, sealing, boxing, code board, fixing, transportation... Each link is controlled layer by layer to create its preservation time.
Questions about preservatives?
Usually in the cold link of the warehouse, the cherries of the sea are usually added with preservatives (non-preservatives) and do not suck in. Preservatives are mainly to prevent anthrax is decay, in order to keep the nutrients and color and flavor unchanged, short-term preservation of food auxiliary means and technical methods. The addition of preservatives extends the freshness, allowing buyers to eat fresh fruit and sellers to lose money because the fruit is damaged in transit. Due to the maturity of the technology, the sea freight cherries do not add preservatives, but add food preservatives within the controllable range (it is recommended to wash more before eating).
(4) Mode of transportation:
In terms of timeliness: the time of sea freight cherries generally takes about 20-30 days, and the time of air freight cherries is generally 3-5 days (mainly for New Zealand and Australia)
Freshness: Air > sea freight
Air Freight Cordia
Price: transportation costs, air freight costs are high, such as 5kg of cherries freight costs 100-200 yuan, attached to the cherries, of course, the price is higher. Shipping by sea is low in cost and the most cost-effective.
To sum up, measuring the price of cherries is not only the variety theory, the factors affecting the price of cherries = mode of transportation + grade + variety + season + place of origin + output + maturity + freshness + local market conditions to determine.
How to choose and avoid pits:
Fruit stem: The fruit stem is emerald green and is not easy to fall off, and there are no wrinkles at the junction of the stalk and the fruit
Surface: Shiny, no wrinkles and dark wounds
Hardness: strong and not soft collapse
Color: Under the same variety, the color depth maturity is high
Box header information is very important: pay attention to the specifications, varieties, origin, and dates of the original box
Will not look at the box header information poke here→ Cherry box standard science
Due to the global epidemic prevention and control, international commercial flights have decreased significantly, and it is estimated that the air arrival volume of Chelizi this year may not be large. Air and sea transport capacity has been greatly reduced due to the epidemic and other reasons, resulting in increased transportation costs.
However, the market for durian and cherry is independent of all fruit products, as long as the quality is good, the mainstream market will not be too low.