Xiuwen firm applies ready-to-eat technology to kiwi fruit

The Xiuwen County State Investment Group Co – based in Xiuwen county in Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province – has applied ready-to-eat technology to kiwi fruit, ripening fruit through a variety of physical methods.

In recent years, it has boosted its technology-enabled agricultural development, increased the promotion and application of ready-to-eat technology and resolved the problem of its crop of kiwi fruit being either under-ripe or over-ripe in the supply chain.

This enables consumers to eat ready-to-eat kiwi fruit immediately and has boosted sales.

Employees pack kiwi fruit at a warehouse operated by Xiuwen County State Investment Group. [Photo/WeChat account of Xiuwen county]

Kiwi fruit is a typical climacteric fruit: fruit that can ripen after being picked. Fresh fruit cannot be eaten immediately after picking. For a long time, the domestic fresh hard kiwi fruit have been on the market, which cannot meet the consumer demand for ready-to-eat and maintain long shelf life.

But with the expansion of the fresh food market and changes in consumer eating habits, ready-to-eat kiwi fruit has become a new market trend.

"We use a purely physical after-ripening method, which is to simulate the growth of fruit in the field, such as heating them up in the morning and cooling down in the evening and then by controlling the gas ratio, so that the fruit can reach a ready-to-eat and controllable state," said Xue Zhenyu, a technician at Xiuwen County State Investment Group.

"There is also no residue of pharmaceutical agents, which makes it a pollution-free product for consumers," Xue added.

Ready-to-eat technology is applied to Xiuwen's kiwi fruit. [Photo/WeChat account of Xiuwen county]

When it comes to sales, the ready-to-eat kiwi fruit has a higher price, which boosts the incomes of both Xiuwen County State Investment Group and the farmhands.

At present, the company's kiwi fruit is mainly sold to Shanghai, Nanjing, Xi'an and other places, through e-commerce and on-site sales.