Crossover approach to promote city fruits
Lipsticks in orange and tangerine-themed stationery, pendants and cultural products on display in Jing'an District on Friday.
Shanghai-grown tangerines.
The city’s greenery authorities are taking a crossover approach to promote Shanghai-grown fruits, officials announced on Friday.
Orange lipsticks and tangerine-themed stationery, pendants and other products have been launched with the cooperation of the Shanghai Forestry Station and Oriental Beauty Valley and the Donghao Lansheng Group Shanghai International Trade Promotion Co.
Tangerines occupy 53,000 mu (3,533 hectares) in Shanghai, 26 percent of the city's total fruit-growing area, with the majority in the towns of Changxing and Luhua and Hengsha Village on Chongming Island, according to the station. They are also grown along the Dazhi River in the Pudong New Area as well as suburban Jinshan and Fengxian districts.
The forestry station expects this year's crop to be slightly more than last year's 120,000 tons.
The city's total fruit yield is estimated to reach about 280,000 tons this year, according to the bureau.
Shanghai has 83 orchards accredited for excellence in safety and quality based on criteria such as environment, planting processes and test results. A wide variety of fruits such as peaches, pears, grapes, tangerines, blueberries and kiwi fruit are grown.
From late October, tangerines grown in Chongming District and Pudong are sold at 14 downtown parks, and more than 500,000 kilograms of the fruits had been sold by the end of last year, the forestry station announced on Friday.
Peaches and grapes also hit local parks in summer.
Shanghai-grown tangerines.
Grape pie.
Lipsticks in orange.
Continuous efforts are being made to promote Shanghai-grown fruits and boost their popularity among local residents, said Zhuang Jinghua, deputy director of the forestry station.
"The development of locally grown tangerines is limited in the traditional planting, promotion and sales areas and we want to enrich their cultural essence and brand value with the new approach," Zhuang said.
"The cooperation is an attempt and the crossover will not only cover food, comestics and cultural product fields, but also be extended to more novel and trendy areas," said Zhuang.
"The aim is to make local fruits a hit among consumers, boost the popularity of local fruits and increase the income of local farmers," he said.
The Oriental Beauty Valley said there is huge cooperation potential with the forestry station as the ingredients of many of its beauty products are from natural plants.
In July, Shanghai-grown fruits are being blended into Western desserts, creating a new way for people to enjoy fresh and succulent fruit from the suburbs.
Nanhui peaches and Malu grapes are being used by Pie Bird at Jing An Kerry Centre and the fresh fruit pies were favored by young consumers.
Bright Dairy said it will also blend Shanghai fruits into its research and development of new products such as ice cream.
Offline activities such as bazaars and summer camps will also be launched to promote Shanghai fruits among young consumers.
