Future expectations are high as Spanish stonefruit exporters start shipping their first ever consignments to the Chinese market, but long transit times and strict protocols have been a challenge for some.

The market officially opened for Spanish stonefruit in late July, and is expected to provide some much-needed relief for growers affected by the Russian import ban.

Murcia-based Frutas Esther has so far shipped flat peaches and nectarines to the market via airfreight, and a representative said the initial reaction to the fruit's taste and appearance had been encouraging.

"We have sent the fruit to various customers and we had a very warm welcome. So far they have not been huge quantities, but we’re very pleased with the reaction," commercial representative Arnold Heemskerk told www.freshfruitportal.com.

He said seafreight was not a good option for many types of stonefruit due to the lengthy transit time, and Russia is currently not allowing Spanish fruit to pass through its territory on the railway running from Europe to China.

But Heemskerk said it appeared as though progress was being made in talks to allow passage of fruit through the ex-Soviet country, adding trainfreight would be an attractive option for the company.

"We consider the train as the best option, as you don’t have such an elevated price as airfreight and you don’t have such a long transit time as seafreight. We understand the transit time is about 20 days," he said.

One issue with shipping to China highlighted by some in the industry is the strict protocols established by the Asian country.

Heemskerk said along with requiring cold treatment of at least 16 days, a range of facilities much be registered and there are numerous inspections in both countries.

"When it was confirmed it was a very complicated protocol. It's not like shipping to the U.K. or the rest of Europe. It's possible to do it but it’s difficult," he said.

Another challenge for Spanish exporters is learning which varieties are best suited to Chinese consumers' pallets.

But despite the extra effort required compared to other countries, Heemskerk said the company was 'enthusiastic' about future prospects.

"I guess it’s never going to be a market as big as the European market, but it certainly can be a good market. There are lots of people living there, and there's lots of interest for our fruit," he said.

This week Frutas Esther is due to harvest a different flat peach variety, and Heemskerk said a significant proportion of that crop would probably be shipped to China too.

Another exporter, AEC Inter S.L., has also been shipping stonefruit to the new market, and like Frutas Esther it has found the protocols to be rather complicated.

"The AQSIQ [China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine] protocol has caused a lot of confusion for many," the company's Asia Pacific  business director Alice Li said.

"It definitely makes things more complicated and time-consuming, and it also causes delays because everyone lacks experience, but we’ve managed it and sold our plums successfully.

"We're learning fast, and next year everything will be much easier."

The representative added that this year many companies were only able to send stonefruit to China via seafreight as they did not have enough cold storage facilities registered under the protocol.

Chinese importer Grandfruit has been importing AEC Inter's oranges over recent months, and Li said the company was now also importing its stonefruit.

"We’ve built a really good relationship, so this time, they're the first one that who got our special variety plums," she said.

"We also build new relationships with other buyers who represent different channels as well."

Meanwhile, an industry head in the Spanish province of Extremadura said the region had shipped 30 containers of plums since gaining marked access a couple of months ago.

"We have only shipped plums as the protocols arrived late and our nectarine season had already finished," Extremadura Fruit Producers' Association (Afruex) managing director Miguel Angel Gómez-Cardoso Bernet said.

He added that trainfreight would be a strong possibility if Russia one day allows fruit to pass through its borders, but he said the costs would need to come down to make it feasible.

"These days the price of cold chain facilities on train is very expensive, much more expensive than via seafreight," he said.

"So right now it would not be a very profitable option, but once Russia allows products to pass through, we could begin to work with transport companies to see how we could reduce these costs and make it a real alternative."

Gómez-Cardoso Bernet believed China could become an important market in the future an alleviate some of the pressure on Europe, but he said this would only happen if transit times could be reduced by using trainfreight.

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