The World’s Most Expensive Fruit, Lychee

Recently, some netizens found that Beijing’s high-end shopping mall SKP has listed a variety of expensive lychees.

The most expensive variety, “Zengcheng Hanging Green”, costs 2,098 yuan per kilogram, and the prices of several other varieties are also several hundred yuan per kilogram.

On July 15, 2022, as a supplier of green lychees in SKP shopping malls, Wu Yuhui, general manager of Sanbai (Guangdong) Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd. and vice chairman of Guangdong Litchi Industry Alliance, told the reporter that the price of lychees in the mall was clearly marked, consumers can buy voluntarily.

Wu Yuhui regards this controversy as an excellent opportunity to promote high-end lychees. Taking advantage of the popularity, he posted a short video on social platforms, holding a string of “hanging green” in his hand, which could sell for about 2,000 yuan.

Wu Yuhui once worried that the lychees he brought would be less popular after they were delivered to SKP due to the high price.

“We brought all the most precious lychees in Guangdong, Zengcheng hanging green is one of the varieties, including our Bingli, Yuli, Guanyin green, Xianjinfeng, and glutinous rice cakes. On the first day, these products were put on the shelves, they won the first fruit sales in the whole store.” He was a little surprised when he learned this data.

The salesperson in the shopping mall told reporters that although hanging green is expensive, many people are looking for it. Wu Yuhui analyzed that this is because the mall gave Litchi the most conspicuous position, and he also made a “free trial” notice on social platforms in advance. “When we landed, the official announcement made a vibrato, and some people came to see lychees.”

“This green hanging is a lychee of 555,000 yuan that we shot, and it is the top card of our Guangdong lychee.” In the previous video, he deliberately threw out this number to arouse people’s curiosity. According to reports, “Zengcheng Hanging Green” was sold at a price of 555,000 yuan in a charity auction in 2002, setting the Guinness World Record for “the world’s most expensive fruit”.

July 9 is the first day that lychees are on the shelves. People, who come to the booth usually ask Wu Yuhui, “Why there are so many varieties of lychees?” “Why is this variety so expensive?” “Can you try it?” He observed at the scene that many of the customers who came to the scene were “housewives” who came with their children. He encouraged them to try it. “Some customers told me after eating that they were delicious in their mouths.”

Most people just buy a box and bring it to their family to taste. Some people bought five boxes at once. “The five boxes add up to more than 5,000 yuan.” He said, “That should be the boss, and it is used as a gift.”

The reporter came to the fresh food supermarket on the basement level of SKP on July 15. As soon as he entered the door, he could see all kinds of lychees displayed on the long counter on the front right and even a small “Xianjinfeng” lychee tree. The salesperson on the side said that the most expensive “Bingli” is now at about 699 yuan per pound, and “Hanging Green” was sold out in two days.

Converted down, the “green” sold by SKP shopping malls costs about 60 yuan per piece. But Wu Yuhui said that this price is not the most expensive. In Zengcheng, large lychee over 25 grams can be sold for 100 yuan.

Previously, their “green” was mainly sold in the form of e-commerce. “We can buy our lychees on Douyin, Kuaishou, and Pinduoduo. Normally, some local fruit farmers also sell them online.” The reason why he did not cooperate with offline shopping malls, Wu Yuhui said frankly, “Most supermarkets are reluctant to purchase. They have cooperated with Hema Fresh Food before, but they have not introduced ‘green’.”

On the evening of July 14, the reporter searched on the e-commerce platform with the keyword “Zengcheng hanging green”. The reporter contacted the store and found that the above-mentioned businesses are basically “self-produced and sold”, and they are the second and third generations of “hanging green”. A “green” shop owner told reporters that he specializes in planting green and owns 3 trees, but the output is very low, so he sells 388 yuan per catty, mainly to Beijing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and other places. “Generally, individuals come to buy more, and they are used as gifts.”

The person in charge of purchasing at another high-end boutique supermarket told reporters that it is difficult to sell “green” offline, because of the scarcity of supply, it cannot be supplied for a long time, and it cannot meet the normal distribution of the store. “And it’s expensive, and it’s not suitable for sale in stores.”

This time, “hanging green” in the shopping mall is due to a special opportunity. Wu Yuhui said, “We previously participated in a promotion event held by the Guangdong Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in Xinfadi, Hebei. ‘Three hundred grains’ was one of the five participating companies in Guangdong Province. At that time, the head of Beijing SKP procurement tasted us. I brought all kinds of lychees from the past, and after several inspections, I decided to try a new batch of our lychees.”

For this sale, Beijing SKP ordered a total of 1,000 kilograms of lychees, and the first batch of 250 kilograms has been sold out. Wu Yuhui returned to Guangdong to replenish. “But because the weather in Guangdong is too hot, some goods cannot be supplied, and the lychees may ripen too quickly.”

The sales results this time gave him a lot of confidence, “We found that the people in Beijing actually have a great demand for this high-quality agricultural product, and we also told us in the opposite direction that if the agricultural products are grown well, if they have good quality, they will be good. The price has also boosted our entire industry.”

In the opinion of the above-mentioned supermarket purchasing managers, the situation is not so optimistic. “The SKP consumer group is different.” For ordinary consumers, the “green” price is still too expensive.

They once did a pre-sale in June 2022, selling four rare lychee varieties with scarce yields such as “Huanglu”. The market price of 900g “Huanglu” was 999 yuan. The pre-sale price was almost 50%, and it only sold for 449 Yuan, and the remaining three are priced at two or three hundred yuan. However, the effect was not satisfactory, and the total sales of the four kinds of lychees were “less than one million”.