The first Winter Lychee Industry Conference organized by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Guangdong (DARA) kicked off in Guangzhou on January 5th, 2022.

GPHL launched a portfolio under the brand name 'Lixiaoji' which offers 18 products made from further processing of lychee, such as fruit juice, sparkling water, instant cubilose (secretion of birds) with lychee, and instant fish maw with lychee.

In particular, the brand caters to young consumers' demand for unique experience by developing different flavours, such as lychee juice with sea salt, peach, or herbal tea as well as lychee sparkling water with sea salt or peach.

The latest findings relevant to the beauty benefits of lychee were released at the conference. On site, the Alliance of Lychee Further Processing Enterprises was founded, and the ceremony for entering into the agreement on the Cooperative Project of Joint Development of Lychee Industry was held.

GPHL's subsidiary Wanglaoji will strengthen its cooperation with lychee industry players based in Conghua of Guangzhou, Zhanjiang, Maoming, Huizhou, and Yangjiang to raise awareness of the lychee and help boost the rural areas in Guangdong province.

Lychee is one of the most popular fruits in Lingnan (ie. south of the Nanling Mountains in South China), and the lychee industry is a traditional and competitive agricultural industry in Guangdong. According to the DARA, the land used for lychee farming reached around 2633 km2 in 2021, representing 49.83% of the countrywide total. 1.4731 million tons of lychee fruit has been produced in the last year, accounting for 50.07% of total production in China.

Guangdong, known as 'the kingdom of lychee', takes a leading role in developing the country's lychee industry. However, 97% of the business in this industry is mainly involved in marketing and distributing fresh fruit while the proportion of further processing business is less than 3%.

The launch of the Lixiaoji portfolio will accelerate the synchronous and synergistic development of 'premium fresh fruit' and 'intensive and further processing'. As such, lychee is no longer a summer-specific seasonal fruit, and people can enjoy sweet lychee all year around.

Lixiaoji products

A variety of lychee products also available in winter are showcased at this conference. Newly launched healthy and fashionable lychee products help raise awareness and add trendy properties and value to this tropical fruit. Meanwhile, taking the opportunity to capitalize on the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics, the Lychee Industry Conference intended to make Guangdong lychee more influential by announcing the philanthropic ambassador to carry out various activities.

Olympic champion Zhang Hong was present as the philanthropic ambassador. "I will fulfil my mission to get lychee more well-known and help Guangdong's lychee industry thrive", she said.

In addition to successfully developing Lixiaoji, GPHL drives the tech-enabled development in the lychee industry by actively studying lychee's efficacy.

GPHL and Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences jointly released their findings for the Research on Lychee Nutrition and Health Effects and Key Comprehensive Processing Technology. The Group and South China Agricultural University jointly released the result of the Research on the Lychee γ-aminobutyric Acid and Product Processing Technology. It proves that lychee contains abundant functional amino acids and polyphenol compounds, which have certain beauty effects.

Wanglaoji will continue to invest in scientific research, work with a professional lab team to explore lychee's relevant efficacy, guarantee the continued research on lychee and development of healthy lychee products, and translate the findings into a new pillar of growth for the lychee industry, a Wanglaoji manager said.

As approved by the DARA, GPHL took the lead to found the Alliance of Lychee Further Processing Enterprises, aiming to promote more on-all-fronts with  deeper, and wider cooperation. The Alliance will be committed to strengthening industrial communication and collaboration, reaching a common understanding of lychee further processing, accelerating the commercialization of scientific and research findings, and promoting the development of the lychee processing industry in Guangdong.

"Lixiaoji, Wanglaoji, and Ciningji will become GPHL's trio of brands. We hope Lixiaoji will give new impetus to the lychee industry, extend the consumption cycle of lychee, expand the consumer market of processed lychee products, and speed up the agglomeration of high-level elements in the lychee industrial cluster so as to make the lychee industry more competitive and stronger", GPHL chairman Li Chuyuan said.

Authors: Monica & Michelle

Editors: Olivia & Jerry