In the cold winter season, workers in Zhuanglang County's major fruit storage and processing workshops are busy sorting, packing, and boxing, preparing countless crates of bright red apples for their journey across the country. From autumn harvesting and storage to winter processing and external sales, the "winter economy" along Zhuanglang's apple industry chain continues to heat up, benefiting both fruit growers and merchants alike.
Among the bustling workers, fruit grower Chen Juanjuan stands out. After earning over 60,000 yuan from selling the harvest from her 4-mu orchard, she immediately found employment at a nearby storage facility, achieving "employment right at her doorstep." She deftly packs apples, her face beaming with joy as she works, saying, "I came straight to work here after selling my apples. I can work for about 40 more days until the New Year, and I expect to earn another 6,000 yuan or so." Many fruit growers like Chen have found stable jobs at these storage and processing enterprises, adding a wage income on top of their farming profits.
Joining the growers in their busy work are out-of-town merchants like Li Baojun from Shandong, a regular buyer of Zhuanglang apples who frequently travels between Shandong and Gansu for procurement and sales. He purchases large quantities of apples annually for the southern markets. Currently, he is closely supervising the sorting process in the workshop, meticulously inspecting the quality of each batch.
He explains with a smile, "I bought these apples from the growers during the autumn, stored them in this warehouse, and after sorting and packaging, they will be shipped to Yunnan. We expect to send around 200 tons before the New Year." Thanks to Zhuanglang County's advanced storage facilities, the apples he acquires are preserved in controlled-atmosphere storage, maintaining their crisp, sweet, and juicy quality.
Behind the strong winter sales of Zhuanglang apples lies the continuous improvement of the county's entire apple industry chain. The county has now established 53 fruit storage facilities with an annual storage capacity of 300,000 tons. Five fruit companies are equipped with automated sorting and packaging lines, providing initial processing capacity exceeding 200,000 tons. This enables both off-season sales and value-added processing. Intelligent sorting equipment accurately tests indicators like sugar content, firmness, and appearance, ensuring premium apples command higher prices and laying the foundation for entering高端markets.
To support winter apple sales, the county not only attracts external merchants through supply-demand对接会 but also collaborates with courier companies to optimize logistics services, ensuring smooth nationwide distribution. From autumn harvesting and winter storage to year-round stable supply, this robust industrial chain has transformed the "red apple" into a "golden fruit" that enriches the people and strengthens the county.
As the Spring Festival approaches, orders for gift-boxed apples continue to grow, and the busy scenes in the storage and processing workshops will persist. Crates of apples departing from the Zhuanglang terraces carry not only the fresh sweetness of plateau fruit but also the hopes of growers for increased prosperity, painting a vibrant picture of industrial growth and warm livelihoods for rural revitalization in the heart of winter.
