Grape prices in Jize, Hebei fall to six jiao per jin
Jize County in Hebei Province has been growing grapes for more than 20 years, and thanks to good sunlight and few severe weather events this year, total grape production reached a new record high. Along with the bumper harvest, gradually falling prices have brought worries to many fruit growers, especially for Qingwuhe (8611) grapes, which were selling for one yuan fifty or sixty per jin when they hit the market in early July, and by August had fallen below one yuan; at present, those of slightly lower quality fetch only six jiao.
Why are Qingwuhe grapes in Jize County so cheap? Through inquiry and investigation, the author found the following main reasons:
1. The structure of grape varieties is unreasonable, with too much of some and too little of others. At present, the county grows more than 10,000 mu of grapes, and although there are many varieties such as Jufeng, Jingya, Qingwuhe, Hongwuhe, Tengren (ping-pong), Summer Black, and Victoria, the single variety Qingwuhe accounts for half of the total. Customers who sell to the market generally choose two to four varieties; an oversupply of Qingwuhe inevitably means low prices, while other varieties are relatively insufficient and their prices are higher. As a result, customers who want several varieties for the market are inevitably not very enthusiastic about coming to buy.
2. There are no local deep-processing enterprises, so sales depend mainly on outside markets. People in the industry know that Qingwuhe can be sold to the market and is also the best raw material for making canned grapes. Because there is not a single grape deep-processing enterprise locally, almost all grapes need to be sold outside. As Qingwuhe acreage has continued to increase in many places in recent years, prices inevitably fall when supply exceeds demand.
3. Grapes have developed greatly in surrounding areas, shortening the sales radius. Grape-growing techniques are simple, and compared with other fruits the cycle is short. In recent years, grapes have developed rapidly in many places, and many buyers have the opportunity to choose nearby, gradually shortening the average sales radius of Jize grapes compared with previous years. The diversion of buyers has left Jize Qingwuhe out in the cold with low prices. Grape broker Duan Weizhou said that this year customers have clearly decreased, especially distant customers. Buyers from nearby generally use small carts to haul a few thousand jin, and quite a few haul one or two thousand jin. Distant customers generally use large trucks, hauling thirty or forty thousand jin per truck; more than ten small customers together still do not buy as much as one big customer. With fewer big buyers coming, Qingwuhe grapes have been hard to sell this year.
To solve the fruit growers' worries, the Jize County Science and Technology Association calls on canning factories and buyers with sales capacity to come and purchase. When coming, please call 13930078756 to stay informed in time about supply volumes and price changes.
Contact: Xing Yintian, Jize County Science and Technology Association, Hebei Province, Tel: 13930078756
Email: [email protected] QQ:2025867005