China Loves Northwest and American Cherries

The cherry harvest is long since done and growers are preparing for next year, but many are able to utilize a growing interest in China for our crops.

Susan Zhang with the U.S. Ag Trade office in Shanghai  said the Chinese are bringing Northwest cherries by plane into the country.

“Back in 2014, we networked the Northwest Cherry Growers and Eastern China Airlines Logistics and facilitated the first chartered airplane to ship Northwest cherries to China.”

Each Boeing 777 plane can carry about 100 metric tons of cherries.

Zhang said that first year, it was just eight planes that brought the fruit to the Asian nation.

“This year, for the past season in 2017, this number grew to 48 and they’re shipping not only to Shanghai port, but also to more inland ports. They’re not only shipping Northwest cherries, but also California cherries.”

Chinese e-commerce delegates were in the U.S. recently to learn more about U.S. agriculture.