“The fastest-selling item these first few days has been watermelon — 12 tons were sold out in 70 minutes.” On the afternoon of May 15, Guo Runze, General Manager of Yunnan Shengjiafu Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd., told reporters at his stall. Since the opening of Haiguangxing Fruit Market on April 28, the company has shipped around 150 tons of goods on average daily. Guo remarked, “Vietnamese mangoes are selling briskly these days. My stall alone dispatched over 130 tons within two days.” Workers are installing a weighbridge to handle growing shipment volumes, with cartons of mangoes stacked neatly on site. Guo added that agricultural goods carry low unit value, hence sales volume must be scaled up. The second batch of durians from Southeast Asia will arrive in large quantities soon, with an estimated 200 containers arriving daily, and he aims to secure five containers for his business. He has completed filing with Kunming Customs and plans to expand into agricultural product exports.

Guo Runze (right) asks a stall staff member about sales volumes of cherry tomatoes purchased from Gansu Province.

Seven Cold Storages Put into Use, Yunnan Farmers Deliver Fresh Fruits

Seven of the company’s cold storage facilities have been partially operational, maintained at 7℃. The temperature will be adjusted to 4℃-6℃ as stock accumulates, with each chamber capable of storing roughly 70 tons. Green citrus from Heqing County of Yunnan and cherry tomatoes from Gansu are sorted and stacked inside. Guo Runze stated that the enterprise targets selling tropical and subtropical fruits to northern China and domestic temperate fruits to South and Southeast Asia. Shipments of Shandong apples will start soon.

Guo Runze checks the temperature inside the cold storage.

Vietnamese Durians Arrive, Thai Agents Come for Business Negotiations

Shengjiafu occupies 40 stalls at Haiguangxing, including 25 domestic fruit stalls, 15 import parking bays and 7 cold storage units. The company also engages in vegetable cultivation and seedling breeding, requiring broader market access. A newly arrived container holding over 2,000 cartons of Vietnamese Ganyao durians reached the market in three days via land transport from Hekou. He holds high expectations for the upcoming peak season of Thai durians. “Goods take merely 42 hours to reach Kunming via the China-Laos Railway, compared with 120 hours by sea shipping.” The market may handle 200 durian containers daily then, worth over 100 million yuan. Together with mango sales, Guo strives to lift daily cargo throughput to 200 tons. A representative of a Thai durian brand is waiting for him in Xiaoshao Community for cooperation talks.

Agricultural Consul and Commercial Consul of the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Guangzhou visit Shengjiafu’s stall and hold exchanges with the enterprise.

Shengjiafu is the exclusive distributor of renowned Thai durian brand Taimei across Yunnan. The brand trades more than 3,000 containers annually, generating business revenue of 1.8 to 2 billion yuan. According to Guo Runze, domestic demand for high-end tropical fruits remains the core business focus.

The enterprise receives a new container of Vietnamese durians at the cold chain container zone.

Local Employment Boosted, Xiaoshao Evolves into a Fruit Hub

The market also fuels local employment growth. Zhu Xiaomi, 27, a resident of Changshui Community, was recruited as a cashier on April 21 through community WeChat recruitment. She lives with colleagues in the company dormitory in Xiaoshao Community, just across the road from the market. Wholesale fruit business demands early starts and late finishes. Staff get up at 5:30 a.m., open stalls at 6 a.m., and often receive incoming trucks deep into the night, making nearby accommodation highly practical. The firm rents an independent dormitory building and employs full-time cooks to provide three daily meals, with lunch delivered to stalls in insulated buckets. Married staff are entitled to private rooms.

Cooperation talks with a Thai durian agent are underway inside the company dormitory in Xiaoshao Community.

Guo Runze held concurrent talks with a major mango grower from Yuanjiang and the Thai durian agent in the dormitory. “Xiaoshao has turned into a lively fruit hub. Many business partners arrive in luxury vehicles,” he said cheerfully.

A heavy truck transfers fruit containers at Haiguangxing Fruit Market.

Having engaged in agricultural trade for nearly 30 years, Guo Runze shared his insights. Previously, promoting products required costly cross-city deliveries to Xi’an and Nanjing. Currently, Haiguangxing gathers over a thousand national buyers. Merchants from Chengdu and Xi’an run on-site stalls, inspecting goods and purchasing products tailored to local tastes. Yunnan boasts premium fruit quality yet lacks influential local brands. The enterprise will nurture high-quality fruit brands, taking Haiguangxing as a core base to integrate planting, cold chain logistics and trade. More Yunnan specialties will be sold nationwide, while fine fruits from South and Southeast Asia can smoothly enter northern Chinese markets.

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(Editors: Jennifer, Flynn)