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B.C. cherry farm’s production set to increase due to Chinese demand

Chinese buyers have developed a taste for Canadian cherries and Sutherland SA Produce in British Columbia looks to be in prime position to benefit from this.

China has emerged as the most important market for Sutherland cherries – between 50 to 70 per cent of Sutherland’s total production is sold to China, with Chinese wholesale markets and e-commerce companies its two main buyers.

For the last two years, the company has been focused on increasing its supply to online sellers, as oversupply in Chinese wholesale markets have driven down prices and have made online e-commerce a much more attractive sales channel. Sutherland supplies a number of Chinese buyers such as FruitDay, Yiguo, Win-Chain (Alibaba), and JD.com, and enjoyed a large influx of new buyers from China this past season.

Following recent tariffs between China and the United States, Chinese buyers have flocked to Canada and Canadian cherries, many of whom had never purchased Canadian cherries before.

To meet this massively increased demand, Sutherland is planning to have more orchards online in the coming season and will be shifting a large portion of its domestic fruit production to supply for Asian markets. | For more information, CLICK HERE.