Just arrived: Yee (second from left) and Sunshine management staff taking delivery of the first batch of Mandarin oranges in Air Itam. — LIM BENG TATT/The Star
GEORGE TOWN: The fruits may be smaller, but you can expect this year’s Mandarin oranges to be as sweet as ever, boasting extra flavour and fragrance.
This is the collective opinion of the first testers of one of the earliest container loads of Mandarin oranges arriving in Penang for the year, says Sunshine Wholesale Mart Sdn Bhd director Yee Kam Ming.
He said the smaller-sized fruits were due to the drier months during the growing period but the flavour is stronger.
“It has a sweet and fragrant profile. Smaller crops are often associated with a more intense orange flavour and an enhanced fragrance.
“This year, it was a low yield as there were adverse weather conditions in the Yong Chun district of Fujian, China.
“The harvest decreased by over 30% compared with previous years, with the growing season impacted by the drought in May and June last year. There were also excessive typhoons closer to the harvest period,” he said at Sunshine Central Penang in Air Itam yesterday.
Yee said smaller Mandarin oranges would have relatively moderate price hikes, while the larger ones would see higher price increases.
“This time, there are more medium and small-sized fruits. The harvest yielded about 20% for extra small ones, 10% for large ones and only 5% for extra large fruits,” he said.
The extra small ones are between 60mm and 65mm in diameter and the extra large ones are 80mm to 85mm. Most of them are 65mm to 70mm (small) and 70mm to 75mm (medium).
Yee said the freight cost had surged to around three times the usual rate due to ongoing supply chain issues, including bottlenecks in container availability and disruptions to the Red Sea shipping lanes.
“Mandarin orange prices are up by 10% to 20%, driven by the smaller harvest and higher freight cost.
“This year, small Mandarin oranges are priced at RM18.88 a box, medium ones at RM21.98, and large ones at RM25.88; with prices having gone up by 7%, 13% and 16% respectively.
“The pricing is slightly cheaper for those who buy wholesale at 50 and 100 cartons and above,” he said.
Yee said the Mandarin orange stock for this shipment is the variant called ponkan; and they would import another popular variant called lokam which is on the sweet-and-sour side.
On other Mandarin orange varieties that will be offered at Sunshine, Yee said they have the Red Beauty from Fujian and Zhejiang and Papagan from Sichuan.
“In recent times, these oranges seem to be popular.
“Red Beauty, which is a cross between an orange and a Mandarin orange, and Papagan are considered premium-grade oranges and are high in demand.
“Red Beauty has a jelly-like pulp while Papagan is considered top-tier.
“These oranges are pricier but tasty. The packaging is nicer as well which makes for a good gift,” he said.
While the supply is lower this time, Sunshine is also selling Teochew Mandarin oranges.
Yee said the company would receive a total of 15 shipments and suppliers might extend it to after Chinese New Year for those celebrating Hari Raya.
“They are willing to extend the importing of oranges and there is a type of orange called Wogan which has just been harvested.
“It is a tasty fruit and will be here in time for Hari Raya,” he said.
