Entering ChinaThe imported cherries we usually eat come mainly from the United States, Chile and Canada, which are grown halfway around the world from China, and the transportation time is often 20-30 days.
It stands to reason that the loss rate of fresh fruit is alarmingly high, but how does it appear in front of us in a glamorous way? The secret to cherry freshness starts at the source.
Growers usually choose the time when the fruit is ripe, when the cherry ethylene is released less, which delays the aging process. The cherries are not directly boxed after harvesting, but are “cold shocked”, that is, the fresh cherries are quickly immersed in ice water to cool down.
The cherries are then washed and sprayed with a layer of food-grade preservative. Cherries are not shipped in ordinary plastic bags, but are packed in modified atmosphere (MAP). If there is less oxygen, the respiration of the cherry will be weakened, as if it has entered a “dormant” state, the metabolism will be slower, and the storage time will be longer.
Within 18 hours of picking, they are sent to cold storage and quickly loaded into professional refrigerated containers.
Therefore, imported cherries can achieve “floating across the ocean without rotting”, relying not only on natural conditions, but also on a complete preservation system.
According to CCTV news, on January 11, with a long whistle, an international cargo ship loaded with more than 1,000 containers and a total weight of more than 20,000 tons of Chilean cherries slowly berthed at Nansha Port in Guangzhou. This is the largest batch of Chilean cherries imported at Nansha Port since the new cherry season of 2024~2025.
The person in charge of the foreign trade enterprise said that nearly 60% of the cherries will be sold locally in Guangzhou, and the rest will be distributed to other cities in the country such as Dongguan, Shanghai and Beijing. As the arrival of cherries gradually increased, the price became more affordable.
It is understood that around the Spring Festival of the Year of the Snake, it is expected that 12 cherries will berth at Nansha Port, carrying more than 10,000 containers and a total weight of more than 20,000 tons of cherries imported from Nansha Port, accounting for about 3% of the national total. Nansha Port will also become the largest import port for cherries in China for three consecutive years.
Currently, more than 92% of Chilean cherries are exported to China. A small cherry, riding the east wind of promoting high-level opening up, flew from the other side of the ocean to the homes of ordinary people, and the price gradually changed from expensive to “close to the people”, witnessing that the open Chinese market has become a big opportunity for the world.
