After the Chinese New Year, imported cherries gradually faded from the Chinese market, leaving very few still available for purchase. Only some unsold cherries remained, offered at clearance prices of less than ¥ 40/kg. In a matter of days, even these last-issue cherries would be gone.
Domestic cherries have now begun to dominate the market, with prices rising gradually as they make their debut. The first crop of Meizao cherries produced in Dalian's greenhouses has been available for some time. Due to limited supply, their price has remained high, even surpassing Chilean cherries by 1-2 times. In late January of this year, when domestic cherries were first introduced in small quantities, wholesale prices soared to around ¥200/kg, with retail prices exceeding ¥400/kg, a daunting figure.
Greenhouse-grown cherries make up a relatively small proportion of the total domestic cherry production, resulting in higher prices. However, as cherries from unheated greenhouses flood the market from April to May, prices may drop to around ¥40-100/kg.
It is indeed early for large domestic cherries to be on sale in February. Typically, domestic cherries in China start hitting the market in March, but early ripening varieties in some areas, such as Dalian in Liaoning Province, allow them to capture market demand ahead of schedule. In fact, Dalian's greenhouse cherries ripen 40 days earlier. The rise of heated cherry greenhouses in cities like Yantai, Weifang, Liaocheng, and Rizhao on the Shandong Peninsula coincides with the peak season for Chilean cherries. The main appeal of domestic cherries lies in their high ripeness, fast transportation, and freshness. Given the premium on freshness, there's a race to secure the optimal timing for market entry. However, the limited volume available before the Chinese New Year had little impact on imported cherries.
Source: FreshSaga