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Release Date: May 15, 2026 Author: Kaiyun Sports Information Source: Official
Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture decided to organize an apple e-commerce sales month activity nationwide, with sales from April 3rd to May 3rd.
It is reported that Alibaba Group, JD.com Group, Suning Cloud Commerce Group and other e-commerce companies participated in the 'Apple Sales Month Action'. Data released by the Ministry of Agriculture shows that within 3 days of the launch of the apple e-commerce sales month action, Suning has sold 3.075 million kilograms of apples, JD.com has sold 110,000 kilograms, and other e-commerce platforms are also connecting with production areas and fruit farmers.
As a traditional fruit with high nutritional value, suitable for all ages, why did apples encounter 'inventory difficulties' in 2015-2016? How effective is selling apples through the internet and e-commerce platforms? Recently, a reporter from 'China Science Daily' interviewed relevant issues.
Why are apples selling slowly?
Farmer Wang Shuguang from Dangshan County, Anhui Province has finally breathed a sigh of relief these past few days. He planted more than ten mu of apples, which were harvested in mid-September last year, but only half have been sold until recently. 'The situation of slow sales has eased in the past few days, the apples on the ground are basically finished, and there are still cold storage apples left to sell,' he told a reporter from 'China Science Daily'.
In Wang Shuguang's impression, this year's apple prices are the 'cheapest in recent years', while a year ago, during the 2014-2015 sales season, apple prices climbed to their highest point. 'Last year, apples were sold for 2.6 yuan/jin, and this year they are sold for 7-8 mao.'
Why are local apples selling slowly? Huo Xuexi, a professor at the School of Economics and Management of Northwest A&F University, told a reporter from 'China Science Daily' that this is a common 'malady' in the production of high-value agricultural products in China, not just apples.
'In a production situation dominated by labor input, high value-added agricultural products are very beneficial for increasing farmers' income. Driven by higher comparative industrial benefits, farmers' enthusiasm is relatively high, which is the fundamental driving force,' said Huo Xuexi.
'Because fruits like apples have obvious benefits in increasing farmers' income, various regions have vigorously promoted planting. Currently, the planting areas for apples are no longer limited to advantageous production areas. There is a certain degree of blind planting. The expansion has led to a significant breakthrough in the boundaries of previously established apple advantageous production areas. Some apples are planted in non-suitable or sub-suitable areas, which is also a very important reason,' said Huo Xuexi. In addition, the cost of apple production has also continued to rise in the past decade, especially since 2007.
From the demand side, the income elasticity of apple demand is relatively large. In other words, apples are not like grains, which are necessities; they can be eaten or not. 'As China's economy enters a new normal and people's income growth is relatively slow, domestic demand for apple consumption is insufficient,' said Huo Xuexi. 'At the same time, affected by cost increases, apple exports from production areas are also affected.'
According to a previous report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, China's apple production in 2015-2016 was predicted to be 43 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 5%. At the same time, it is predicted that China's imported fruits this year will increase by 50% year-on-year, reaching 100,000 tons.
In addition, fruit farmers 'hoarding goods' is also one of the reasons for the current slow sales in some areas. Wang Shuguang revealed to reporters that because last year's apple prices were very high, many local fruit farmers hoped to sell apples at the same high price when harvesting this year. Therefore, there was a mentality of 'reluctance to sell', which led to a significant decrease in the number of purchasing merchants and sales volume.
Why are apples still not cheap?
While Wang Shuguang's apples are selling at a historical low price, the apple prices in the market seem to be unaffected.
Reporters visiting multiple supermarkets in Beijing found that apples priced at 4-5 yuan/jin are the average price, while apples with better appearance still maintain high prices. Many netizens also said that although there are many apples at the production site and the price is low, the apples they eat 'still cost several yuan each'.
According to the national apple market price situation provided by the China Fruit Circulation Association, on April 1, 2016, the national wholesale average price of Fuji apples (grade 2 and above, 200mm) was 6.99 yuan/kg, and on April 12, this price was 6.24 yuan/kg.
Reporters learned that apples go through multiple links from the tree to the sales terminal, including agents, packing, transportation, storage, wholesale, and merchants, and each link incurs costs.
'Our logistics costs are very high, accounting for about 17% of the terminal sales price,' Huo Xuexi told reporters. 'In European and American countries, this proportion is 7%-8%.'
Although e-commerce sales from production areas directly to consumers reduce some links, the logistics costs for cold chain and distribution are very high. A market manager from a well-known e-commerce platform also revealed to reporters that when transporting fresh produce like apples, packaging materials must be used to ensure cold and fresh preservation, with packaging costs ranging from 4 to 8 yuan. In the distribution link, the 'last mile' delivery cost from centralized warehouses to consumers is also extremely high.
In addition to logistics costs, real estate and labor costs in large and medium-sized city retail channels are also reasons for the high retail prices of apples at the consumer end. In other words, the apple prices include considerable store rent and personnel expenses.
In addition, according to media reports, although the state does not allow supermarkets to charge entry fees or stocking fees for agricultural products, in actual operations, if entering supermarkets or wholesale markets, there are stall fees and entry fees, which are still default unavoidable expenses.
All these costs are ultimately passed on to consumers, causing the price of apples to skyrocket after several transfers from the field to the consumer.
Is e-commerce promotion of apples feasible?
About 20 days ago, it was the most severe period of slow apple sales in Dangshan County. Seeing apples rotting in the fields, fruit farmers were extremely anxious. 'Some fruit farmers had only a dozen catties left from a box of 40 catties of apples,' said Wang Shuguang. Anxious fruit farmers posted information about slow apple sales on Weibo, WeChat, etc., and he was one of them. At the same time, he also sold apples through online channels such as micro-stores and WeChat Moments.
'The effect is quite significant,' said Wang Shuguang. 'Now goods are moving through various channels, with large trucks coming to pick them up, express delivery, and all sorts of methods.'
It is reported that Dangshan County has an apple planting area of 100,000 mu. 40,000 mu of early and mid-season varieties have been sold out. The late-season Fuji variety has 60,000 mu, with a yield of about 150 million kilograms. The unsold ones currently belong to this category of apples.
From the perspective of natural conditions, Dangshan, a 'hometown of fruits', is a sub-optimal growing area for apples. Compared with advantageous areas, the quality of its fruits is not superior, making it difficult to sell at high prices in the market.
'Dangshan apples have a small planting area and are already a weak industry with insufficient conditions for brand cultivation. As for improving apple quality, because selling in the low-end market was profitable in previous years, fruit farmers lacked the motivation to change,' said Zhu Qigao, director of the Dangshan County Apple Industry Development Service Center. When apple prices were high, Luochuan and Yantai apples could generally be sold for 8-9 yuan/jin, while the highest purchase price for Dangshan apples was no more than 4 yuan/jin.
In fact, nationwide, apples produced in advantageous areas, with good quality and high brand recognition, are selling very well and have been basically sold out. Although prices have fallen back, the decline is not significant, which is a 'normal return' of prices.
The current 'difficulties' in apple sales are mostly located in sub-optimal areas, or although located in advantageous production areas, they are poorly managed and operated. Various reasons have caused these apples to have large price drops and poor sales.
The 'Apple E-commerce Sales Month Action' organized by the Ministry of Agriculture aims to solve a large part of the sales of these apples. According to the issued notice, this activity aims to further promote the Ministry of Agriculture's relevant agricultural e-commerce action plan and fully leverage the important role of e-commerce in accurately matching supply and demand, reducing circulation costs, and promoting agricultural supply-side reform. Participating e-commerce will operate on the principle of breaking even with small profits and multi-party win-win, allowing fruit farmers in apple production areas and the vast number of consumers to share the achievements of 'Internet + Agricultural E-commerce'.
Regarding organizing e-commerce sales of apples, industry insiders told reporters that for fruit farmers, this is a 'good thing', but how to do a good job of quality control is crucial.
Reporters opened the apple sales page on a certain e-commerce platform and found that the lowest selling price of apples was 4 yuan/jin, and there were negative reviews from consumers such as 'all rotten' and 'all mushy'.
'For e-commerce, product quality and building trust are very important,' a non-anonymous expert told reporters. 'This desire to help sell apples is good, but it may be difficult to truly solve the problem.' (Hu Xuanzi)