This year is the first time that the Golden Wing Mau Group imports fresh American blueberries: the first batch of blueberries has been available in national mid- to high-end supermarkets since the beginning of August.
On 26 August, American Blueberry and Golden Wing Mau Group jointly held the 2023 season's American Blueberry release ceremony in the city of Tianjin Wanjia.
Fu Gui, director of the Agricultural Trade Section of the United States Embassy in China, Huixin, deputy director of the Agricultural Trade Section of the United States Embassy in China, Liu Wen, municipal administrator of the Modern Channel Northern Business District of the Golden Wing Mau Group, and Huang general manager of China Resources Vanguard Beijing-Tianjin Company Xin, Zhang Di, head of the hypermarket marketing department of China Resources Vanguard Beijing-Tianjin Company, and other guests attended the event to celebrate the arrival of fresh blueberries from the US.
This year is the first time that the Golden Wing Mau Group imports fresh American blueberries: the first batch of blueberries has been available in the national mid- to high-end supermarkets since the beginning of August. So far, 1,140 cartons, almost 14,000 baskets, have arrived. Fresh American blueberries only made their debut in China in 2021. Although they are still very rare in the Chinese market, the unique flavour of the new varieties left a deep impression on consumers as soon as they were launched.
On the day of the event, the blueberries attracted many consumers who tried them as soon as they hit the shelves. Zhang Di, head of the marketing department of the China Resources Vanguard Beijing-Tianjin Company hypermarket, said that the American blueberries undergo numerous safety checks at China Resources Vanguard before they are put on the shelves, and that the cold storage test centre also conducts checks on quality parameters and the presence of residues.
Liu Wen, municipal administrator of the Northern China district of the Modern Channel Northern Business Unit of the Golden Wing Mau Group, said in a media interview that the new PeachyBlue variety is a mid-season blueberry variety that has recently been in production. The PeachyBlue blueberry has a crisp, sweet texture and fleshy flesh.
The most important characteristic is its unique flavour, which not only has a strong blueberry aroma, but also a peach aroma.
Speaking about the trend of domestic blueberry consumption, Liu Wen believes: 'Many consumers are becoming more professional in judging fruit, pay more attention to nutrition and other indicators, and have joined the fruit 'ingredient party'.
This has given rise to emerging industries represented by blueberries. The rise of the fruit has made blueberries the largest berry industry after strawberries. American PeachyBlue blueberries have a good taste and flavour. Based on Chinese consumer preferences, Golden Wing Mau Group introduced this new variety of American blueberries."
The fresh blueberries imported by Xinrong Mau this time are all sourced from farms in Oregon, on the west coast of the United States, and the local blueberry harvest period can last from late June to September each year.
In 2020, Oregon's annual blueberry production exceeded 150 million pounds (about 68,000 tonnes), accounting for nearly a quarter of the entire US blueberry production that year. Oregon blueberries are known for their excellent quality and, in addition to the newly opened Chinese market, are also exported to many countries, including Japan.
According to reports, American blueberries were launched this year in many Ole shops in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Haikou and Nanning , as well as in Tianjin Wanjia CITY and Beijing's Hualian supermarket. Currently, the production of new varieties of PeachyBlue blueberries is limited and the annual period of availability for export is only six weeks, which makes all consumed blueberries highly sought after.
According to data from the Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC), blueberry production in the US is expected to reach about 700 million pounds (about 318,000 tonnes) this year, marking a new high in the past five years.
Image: Produce Report
