The price "dives", how the Internet celebrity fruit "grows red"

The average price per kilogram of sunshine roses, which were sold at a sky-high price of 500 yuan a bunch three years ago and is known as the "Hermes of grapes," has fallen to less than 20 yuan per kilogram when they were put on the market in the second half of last year...... Since last year, many Internet celebrity fruits that used to sell sky-high prices have continued to appear in people's eyes at civilian prices, and some have even experienced a "big dive". What is the reason for this phenomenon? What is the situation of the fruit market this spring? With such questions, this reporter recently visited some fruit wholesale markets, supermarkets, and fruit farmers in the province.

Internet celebrity fruit prices "diving"

On April 12, the reporter came to the Nanjing Agricultural and Sideline Products Logistics Center, the largest agricultural wholesale market in the Yangtze River Delta region, only to see the fruit market in the car traffic, all kinds of vans in and out of the barrier, the staff is stepping up to unload just transported boxes of goods, citizens and buyers shuttle in front of the stalls, asking about the price of all kinds of fruits. The reporter inquired about the fruits sold by a number of merchants and found that the wholesale prices of many fruits have indeed dropped a lot compared with previous years. Among them, the wholesale price of strawberries that have just passed the peak sales season has dropped to 6 yuan per kilogram, a large decline compared with the same period last year; as a former "luxury fruit", cherries have faced a sharp decline in prices since they were put on the market this year; in addition, the wholesale price of imported mangosteen is about 32 yuan per kilogram, compared with the previous price of 40 yuan to 50 yuan per kilogram has also dropped significantly. However, there are also some high-end fruits whose prices are still firm. For example, the price of imported durian varies from 50 to 110 yuan per kilogram depending on the quality, and the overall price does not fluctuate much. "For example, this kind of golden pillow durian has high ripeness and small quantity, so the price has always been very stable. If you want to be cheaper, you may have to wait two months. Sun Bin, head of the leading fruit business department in Jiangning District, Nanjing, told reporters.

On the retail side, many "star" fruits have also ushered in price reductions. On April 13, the reporter saw in some stores of Hema in Nanjing that all kinds of kiwifruit have completed the first launch of the new season. "This year's kiwifruit is 10 to 30 percent cheaper than last year. Chen Yanghui, head of Hema national fruit procurement and sales, said that through large-scale direct procurement from production areas, Hema and partners such as Zespri and Good Farmer have joined hands to "bring down" the price, so that more consumers can eat delicious and nutritious imported kiwifruit. During the visit, the reporter found that Zespri kiwifruit sold by Hema has a complete range of products. In addition to green fruits, golden fruits, and organic golden fruits, last year's best-selling ruby red kiwifruit has also been put on the shelves. According to the on-site staff, the current price of Zespri Ruby Red Kiwifruit 6 pieces is 29.9 yuan, a decrease of 26% compared with the same period last year.

On April 12, the latest price data released by the Jiangsu Survey Team of the National Bureau of Statistics showed that food consumption fell seasonally after the Spring Festival, of which the price of fresh fruits fell by 3% month-on-month. Compared to the same period last year, the price of fresh fruit fell by 10% in March this year.

The sharp increase in production has led to an oversupply

Falling fruit prices have given consumers a taste of "sweetness" at a lower and lower cost, but for growers who are looking forward to a good harvest, the reality is a little bitter. In Baitu Village, Baitu Town, Jurong City, Zhenjiang, Ji Rongxi, a national model worker and a well-known strawberry planting expert, looked at his strawberry greenhouse and looked worried. Two years ago, when the reporter went to the local area for an interview, he relied on advanced planting and cultivation technology to hit the "time difference" on the market, and the price of the red strawberries he planted could reach 70 yuan per kilogram. "At present, the wholesale price of strawberries per kilogram is only 12 yuan, and it is expected that the income will decrease by more than 50,000 yuan this year. Ji Rongxi told reporters that with the increasing popularity of strawberry planting technology, more and more farmers have joined this industry, and the planting area of local strawberries has become larger and larger, and the output has increased substantially, exceeding market demand. The oversupply of products has caused fruit farmers to lose their bargaining advantage, and the strawberries in their hands have been unsalable. What worries him even more is that as a traditional agricultural town, the structure of agricultural products in Baitu Town is still single, and there are many farmers who grow strawberries, but the processing of agricultural products cannot keep up, which also leads to the industry being more vulnerable to shocks in the face of market changes and lack of coping methods.

The strawberry farming scene is just a microcosm of the local fruit industry, and the situation in White Rabbit is not isolated. In fact, as far as the whole country is concerned, many former Internet celebrity fruits have experienced the stage of "explosion-mass production-out-of-gas" in recent years. "In fact, since July last year, domestic high-end fruit prices have been falling, and the decline in demand and the increase in supply are the key factors that cause the sky-high fruit prices to return to rationality. Zhao Jinchun, an associate researcher at the Institute of Rural Development of the Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, told reporters that from the demand side, affected by the large environment of market demand, some consumers pay more attention to price factors, resulting in a decline in demand for high-end fruits. At the same time, the cyclical nature of the fruit supply is also an important factor. "For example, high-end fruits such as Snow White strawberries generally appear around the Spring Festival, while strawberries grown in greenhouses are staggered after short-term cold storage. In April and May, when strawberries are concentrated on the market, middlemen need to free up cold storage to store high-priced fruits in the next season, which will also cause an increase in the market supply of single products within a certain period of time. He also said that the entry of capital into the fruit planting industry to carry out large-scale planting, as well as the homogeneous competition between some fruit farmers, "price for quantity" and other problems, will also cause the overall supply level of a single variety of fruit to rise in the short term, exacerbate the structural unsalable, resulting in a decline in prices.

Strictly control quality and improve bargaining power

Another problem brought about by the popularity of Internet celebrity fruits is that the yield has gone up, but the taste has lost its previous amazingness. Some growers only pay attention to yield and ignore quality, which makes it difficult to maintain the taste and quality of some online celebrity fruits, and some unscrupulous merchants sell low-quality fruits at high prices with shoddy quality, disrupting the market order. "I spent 21 yuan to buy 5 mangosteens in Baiguoyuan, of which 2 were rotten and 3 were black. Feedback to the boss, nothing to say. On April 14, Xiao Xi (pseudonym), who lives in Qilinmen, Nanjing, encountered such a bad thing. In addition, some consumers have reported that many of the Sunshine Roses, which have been on the market in large quantities at affordable prices since the second half of last year, have lost their previous sweet and juicy taste and become very sour. So, how can we not only provide consumers with high-quality fruits at a more affordable price, but also allow farmers to have a good harvest year?

"For fruit farmers, the first thing is to adhere to standardized production, put fruit quality and flavor first, and continuously improve fruit quality. At the same time, the current phenomenon of decentralized operation of fruit farmers is still relatively common, and the degree of organization of production and operation is low. We can actively participate in the fruit planting alliance to improve the bargaining power of fruits, stabilize fruit prices, and prevent high yield and low quality from disrupting the market. In addition, government departments should also actively guide fruit farmers to carry out differentiated, characteristic and brand management, promote the planting of characteristic and differentiated varieties on the basis of stabilizing the price of bulk fruits, optimize the product structure of the fruit industry, and enhance the added value of the fruit industry. Zhao Jinchun said.

In response to the current market environment, growers are also looking for changes. For Ji Rongxi, the key work in the second half of this year is to find a way to bring strawberries to market earlier. "Around August, the strawberries should be allowed to survive the winter in the greenhouse in advance, so that they can reach the cooling required for flower bud differentiation, so as to bloom and bear fruit early. The huge investment required to introduce new planting and cultivation techniques is a real problem in front of him. However, he still believes that the low yield of strawberries in the early stage of marketing, good market prospects, and winning the price advantage with a "time difference" will be a way to solve its sales dilemma.

Jiangsu Economic News reporter Zhou Kaihang