Episode Details

For much of the past decade, Chile's export of cherries to China ran on a narrow calendar.

过去十年间，智利樱桃对华出口长期受制于狭窄的时令窗口。

From December to early the following year, the fruit ripened in Chile's central valleys. Weeks later, just ahead of the Chinese New Year, those cherries arrived as a seasonal luxury, scarce, expensive and tightly bound to the holiday. The logic was simple: southern-hemisphere harvests met Northern Hemisphere festivities, and value depended on timing as much as taste.

从十二月到次年年初，智利中部山谷的果实逐渐成熟。数周后，恰逢中国新年之际，这些樱桃作为季节性奢侈品抵达，稀缺昂贵，与节日紧密相连。其逻辑很简单：南半球的收获期恰逢北半球的节日庆典，价值取决于时机与风味同样重要。

That logic is now weakening.

这种逻辑如今正在减弱。

In early 2026, more than a month before Chinese New Year, Chilean cherries were already widely available in China at prices far below previous norms. Boxes of JJ-level Chilean cherry (with a diameter of 28 to 30 millimeters) weighing about 2.5 kilograms were selling for around 159 yuan ($22.7) in major supermarkets in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province, with some promotional prices falling to 99 yuan, roughly 40 percent lower than a year earlier.

2026年初，距离春节还有一个多月时，智利樱桃已在国内广泛上市，价格远低于往年水平。在西南地区四川省成都市的主要超市里，每箱重约2.5公斤的JJ级智利樱桃（直径28至30毫米）售价约159元（22.7美元），促销价甚至低至99元，较去年同期下降约40%。

At local wholesale markets, prices fell even more sharply, with some high-grade cherries priced at nearly half of last year's level.

在当地批发市场，价格跌幅更为显著，部分优质樱桃的价格几乎跌至去年水平的一半。

Such movements do not point to a weakening of demand. Rather, they reflect a structural change in how supply reaches the market.

此类变动并非表明需求疲软，而是反映了供应进入市场的结构性变化。

Importers say the traditional preholiday bottleneck has eased, as improved logistics have reduced the need for cherries to flood the market in a short festive window.

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