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20:29, 27-Jul-2017
New Zealand to export persimmons to China after 12-year negotiations
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New Zealand is sending its first batch of persimmons to China, the country where the fruit originated, next month after 12 years of negotiations.
Talks between New Zealand's Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) and China’s Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) concluded successfully earlier this week, opening the Chinese market to the orange fruits.
A small trial shipment will head to Shanghai to test the waters. Customer feedback will be collected offline through 250 retail stores and online through China’s most popular instant messaging mobile app, WeChat.
A farmer collects persimmons in a village in east China's Shandong Province. /Xinhua Photo
A farmer collects persimmons in a village in east China's Shandong Province. /Xinhua Photo
"It's critical we understand how Chinese consumers react to New Zealand persimmons. We grow a firmer variety than the native Chinese persimmon, which is typically eaten when it's softer and juicier,” Marketer John Miller from Foodview, the company in charge of marketing the fruit in China, told New Zealand media.
“We need to understand what Chinese consumers think of the difference and learn how to educate them to appreciate the New Zealand product," he said.
The variety of the persimmons making its way to Chinese shelves is called Fuyu, or Japanese persimmon. It has a pumpkin-like shape and is light orange in color when ripe.
New Zealand grows the Fuyu persimmon variety, which is more crisp than the ones cultivated in China.
New Zealand grows the Fuyu persimmon variety, which is more crisp than the ones cultivated in China.
New Zealand has been cultivating persimmons since the mid-1980s. In 2014, the total export volume exceeded 1,700 tonnes and was valued at over 6.17 million US dollars.
Last year, around 80 percent of the country’s production was shipped to overseas markets, reaching Australia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.
Negotiations over opening the Chinese market to the fruit began in 2005 and persimmon will be the first fruit to gain such market access since 2008 when the two countries signed a free trade agreement.
In 2015, the MPI and AQSIQ signed the protocol of phytosanitary requirements of persimmon exports from New Zealand to China.