The harvest season of volcanic lychee has officially begun. The first shipment left a few days ago during a festive ceremony. The shipment left from the largest volcanic lychee plantation on Hainan Island, which is in Sanmenbo village, Qiongshan city. The first shipment was loaded onto 51 trucks and weighed around 340,000 kg. The shipment included Concubine Smile lychee and Haikou volcanic lychee. These lychee left on their way to first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Wuhan, and Shenzhen, as well as provincial markets in Zhejiang, Henan, and Liaoning. The festive farewell ceremony also officially opened the season for online and offline sales of Haikou volcanic lychee.
The overall surface area devoted to volcanic lychee plantation in Haikou is around 7,333 hectares. The production volume is estimated at 80,000 tons. The production volume is larger than last year's 74,700 tons. The production volume is larger this year because the weather is warmer. The Haikou volcanic lychee ripen quicker than the lychee in Guangxi, Guangdong, and Fujian. For many consumers the first lychee of the year is a lychee from Haikou. Not only is the volcanic lychee a large lychee, but the color is captivating, and the flavor captures the unique character of the volcano. This lychee enjoys a great reputation in the domestic market. Haikou always attracts many people around this time of year because of the volcanic lychee harvest.
The Haikou municipal government has begun to actively promote the volcanic lychee brand in recent years. They have outlined a specific development path for the Haikou volcanic lychee industry. They use standardized production to raise the status of the Haikou volcanic lychee brand and they use the added cultural value to distinguish the volcanic lychee from other varieties. They also support creative marketing strategies to add to the value of the Haikou volcanic lychee brand. This variety is already available in first-tier markets across the country and is increasingly available in mid- to high-end markets. The municipal support for this brand helps to improve the quality standard in the Haikou volcanic lychee industry and also raises the income of local farmers. The wholesale price of Haikou volcanic lychee is around 20 yuan [3.12 USD] per 0.5 kg in the market in Shanghai.
Source: Haikou Daily