The potential of China's fruit industry has been greatly limited by the lack of any extensive and good quality cold chain transportation companies, according to a Hong Kong-based produce importer. 

P&C International Trading co-director Leo Cheung told www.freshfruitportal.com a lot more work needed to be done within the country to ensure fresh produce could travel for long periods of time by refrigerated truck and consistently arrive in good condition.

"The main problem is that there are no transportation companies within China that operate on a large-scale," Cheung said.

"Most of the truckers have to survive on their own, and none of those trucks stay very cold."

"With fruits we need the cold chain for delivery into the final destination. The better the cold chain network, the more potential for our industry."

Cheung added that often the trucks were not fitted with appropriate monitor systems or the equipment was generally out-of-date.

Despite various companies realizing the current issue and trying to come up with a solution, often it is just not possible for one small company to own the large number of trucks needed for a viable business shipping produce round such a big country.

On top of the issues relating to acquiring lots of properly refrigerated vehicles, Cheung said management of the drivers in China was often problematic, and could not be easily solved by companies able to invest more capital.

"How can they be sure of the quality of the driver? If they have their own equipment, their own truck, in the hands of a driver?" he asked.

"[There are] so many things on that level you have to sort out. It's seriously not easy. It's tough.

"It's not like once you have the money, that's it."

Cheung also said that while using trains for cold chain transportation was a possible option for the future, for at least the next few years the industry would have to depend upon trucking produce around the country.

"That is a big project. If the Chinese government or the big companies are keen to do that, it would be nice to, but at this point in time we should not rely on something on that," he said.

"Appearance is number one"

Cheung said that due to the limited capabilities of Chinese cold chain transportation and the long distances sellers have to travel to and from key markets like Guangzhou, appearance and shelf life have become paramount for importers.

"Many customers need good cold chains when they have to buy food from the Guangzhou market or when they have to buy from Shanghai, but China does not have a good cold chain," he said.

"So any fruit with high maturity may taste nice at the first stage, but then less so after the second, third or fourth handle and then any good maturity fruit will become unsellable."

"When you are buying in Guangzhou it might take an extra 48 hours for trucking to get back to your hometown, and then if anything is too soft or too mature the fruit won't turn out well. And that's why it was their focus."

Cheung added how the produce looked to consumers was much more important that taste.

"In general they're only looking for something with good appearance and that can store for a long while," he said.

"Appearance is number one."

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