A West Australian farming cooperative hopes its first shipment of apples to Hong Kong's largest fruit and vegetable supplier will help establish a lucrative export trade.
The Southern Forest Food Council secured a deal to send an initial shipment of 90,000 Granny Smith apples to Hong Kong supplier Good View Fruits, which has connections to retailers, hotel chains and an airline.
Produce coordinator John Kilrain said the council, which represents food producers from Manjimup, Pemberton and surrounding towns, had been in talks with Good View Fruits for two years.
But Mr Kilrain said moves to secure an export deal intensified in recent weeks as an oversupply of apples saw domestic prices slump.
He said wholesale prices for apples in Western Australia had dropped by 30 per cent.
"The apple industry is in oversupply," he said.
"The more apples we can move out of Western Australia the better at the moment."
Mr Kilrain said the wholesale export price was not significantly higher.
But he said the aim was to try and secure ongoing trade relations to avoid low prices that growers experienced during domestic oversupply.
Mr Kilrain said the shipment was a "drop in the ocean" in China.
"One motel chain [the Hong Kong buyer] looks after goes through 30,000 apples a day just for the staff," he said.
"A container of apples might seem a reasonable amount here, but over there it's a pin drop."
Buyer seeking West Australian produce
Good View Fruits buyer Alex Chung said he was particularly committed to sourcing produce from Western Australia because of its proximity to Hong Kong.
Mr Chung said his customers were seeking fresh produce from Australia because it was seen as fresh and clean.
But he said there was also a novelty factor, which had fuelled his investigation into whether he could source bananas from Carnarvon.
"The banana is grown in the Australian outback," he said.
"So the environment is different and the taste is totally natural and different.
"And so that is a story our Hong Kong consumers would like to hear."
