First Shipment of South African Apples Arrived China

The first container of South African(SA) apples arrived at Shenzhen port by the end of April and was promoted at Vanguard and Ole outlets in Shenzhen during May 1st holiday, confirmed by Ms. Washiela Williams, Counselor of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries from South African Embassy in Beijing.

As per Williams, the variety of the first shipment of apples is Royal Gala. In Dec. 2014, SA apples gained the market access to China. In an earlier interview, Ms. Washiela Williams informed Produce Report that Royal Gala is the third largest exporting variety of SA apples, Golden Delicious and Granny Smith are the first and the second largest exporting varieties for the last four seasons. In terms of exports, South Africa (435,000 tons) follows Chile (708,000 tons) in 2013, becoming the second largest exporter in the Southern Hemisphere, according to WAPA.

The first shipment of SA apples left from South Africa to China also arrived in Shanghai earlier this month and will be released soon after fully inspection by Chinese officials. It is the Royal Beaut apples from SA exporter, Core Fruit. The importer, Willis Wang from Shanghai Haoyuan Food Co., Ltd, told Produce Report that they chose the special variety of “Royal Beaut” as it tastes crispy and sweet, and also has a pretty red look outside and white flesh inside. It will be sold through the e-commerce and chain supermarket after the release.