When it comes to word association, there is only one word that springs to mind when you think of China, and that word is big. Actually scratch that - the word is huge.
One glance at the figures says it all. In 2003 the country produced more than 21 million tonnes of apples. As John Giles says elsewhere in this supplement, that is a bigger production than France and the US combined. In fact, Alan Craig, from Empire World Trade says the country represents around half of the total global production of apples.
But while those figures are huge, should the world’s apple producing nations be quaking in their boots? At the moment, the answer is probably no.
While their production is massive, their export volume remains on the limited side. Craig says there are no clear figures in the UK: “I do not have an accurate figure for the market share of Chinese apples in the UK, but I estimate about three per cent.”
And he thinks that is static: “I do not see the UK market share for Chinese apples changing much in the near future.”
His company was one of the first UK importers to recognise the opportunities in the Far East: “We have been involved since 1996 and import up to 450 containers a year.”
The country’s major variety is Fuji, which, according to consultant Matthew Tang, represents around 60 per cent of the total apple crop. “In 2003 production was 12mt, and I believe that the increase in the next five years will still be on Fuji.”
While that remains the mainstay, Craig says China is not sitting still on the varietal front: “As the Chinese fruit industry develops there is little doubt that they could compete internationally, on other varieties as well as Fuji. New plantings of mainstream varieties are being developed.”
Tang agrees that things may change: “I believe that as we are seeing an oversupply of apples, the older trees and older varieties are being eliminated.
“The history of planting Fujis in the past was to help the poor, especially the program at Shaxxi, along the hills and remote areas. When the small growers found they could make a profit selling the apples, it then became a craze for everyone to rush in, both the local authority and the private sector. It is a classic case of the developing market.
He says he can see a rationalisation, particularly due to the increasing reliance on a single variety, although there is increasing investment going into processing and juicing to make use of the country’s huge production.
This fractured production does not lend itself to quality however, Tang says, pointing out that having huge volume is one thing, but unless you get the quality it does not mean anything on the export market. He also questions whether the Fuji is the right apple for the UK market.
“I wonder if Fujis, with a higher brix level, are the right flavour for the British consumers in the long run?”
Despite this, there is high quality fruit coming out of the country, says Craig. “The Chinese Fuji is a very beautiful apple, with a bright pink skin and crisp white flesh. This fantastic appearance is due in part to the practice of growing each apple in an individual bag on the tree. Such labour intensive practices are only possible due to the low cost of labour.” He also points to the fact, that while there remains a high proportion of small individual growing operations in the country, larger scale growing units are now beginning to appear.
While the country has some obvious advantages, there are also a fair number of disadvantages too, says Dr Drew Reynolds, chief technologist at Worldwide Fruit.
“It’s an incredibly difficult market to manage. To identify sources that meet the requirements of the UK retailers are very difficult,” he says.
He adds while some companies have managed to tap into the market, WWF are simply keeping a watching eye on it, as it develops. “We believe technically they’ve a lot to do to consistently meet our requirements. It needs a lot of development and work before it can compare with other sources of apples.”
However, things are changing out there, says Craig, who acknowledges there is work to be done: “Much of their storage infrastructure is very basic, with a significant amount of the volume being stored in clay pits and caves. Modern cold storage facilities are being developed, which together with the new varieties may make more volumes available for export.”
But while volumes may be set to increase with the improving production techniques he expects the increasing wealth within the Chinese population will mean a large proportion of that volume will be consumed internally.
Capespan’s Rod Hill says that while the lack of discipline in the growing sector is undermining the country’s exports as a whole, changes are taking place and producers are learning quickly.
Those changes are being accelerated with help from the likes of Capespan and EWT, and if the Chinese keep up the pace, it will not be too long before they have a surer footing on the world stage - and that is when things will get really interesting.
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