Canned food quality captures market share

Shandong town finds formula for fruitful sales expansion at home and abroad

In mid-February, days after Spring Festival, workers were busy at a canned fruit factory in Difang town, Pingyi county, Shandong province, keeping production lines humming to meet a rise in demand.

Companies in this important center for the canned fruit industry typically sell some 60,000 metric tons of product during December. But in the same month in 2022, they sold 160,000 tons, cleaning out a good portion of their stock, according to town officials.

The companies' production for the first quarter subsequently has been sold out as their canned fruit began flying off the shelves. The fruit, especially canned yellow peaches, is said to strengthen the body against disease as well as be delicious.

As the fruit becomes more popular, Difang, which produces a third of the canned fruit sold in China, has also garnered more attention.

A visitor driving through town on a main road sees all kinds of related businesses, including factories making glass and metal containers and shipping providers.

The business is the source of a great deal of civic pride. Residents boast that if you go to any supermarket that sells canned fruit, there will be products made in their town.

"With more than three decades of development, we have formed a complete industry chain for canned fruit and vegetables, covering cultivation, canning and dealing with waste from the process," said Qi Bing, who supervises the town's governmental affairs.

That includes companies making containers and packages, those providing information consultation and logistics services, as well as e-commerce players, said Qi, who added that almost every household has at least one person working in the canned food industry.

The town has 115 companies producing canned foods and providing support services, and three of the canneries are among the top 10 in China.

Difang's companies produced 720,000 tons of canned foods last year, mainly yellow peaches, pears, hawthorns, tangerines, grapes, pineapples and fish, officials said.

The town's canned foods have been exported to more than 40 countries and regions, including the United States, Russia, Japan, South Korea and Germany.