Prices approaching 100 yuan per jin! The favorite dish of Yangzhou residents has increased in price.

“New fruit darlings” roll out fresh offerings one after another

Recently,

the media has noticed that

the first batch of lychees

is becoming

one of the representative “premium fruits” in

online shopping platforms

With a short selling season and relatively low production,

the price of lychees on e-commerce platforms

often goes above 60 yuan per jin

Some lychees are even sold

at prices close to 100 yuan per jin

A reporter checked e-commerce platforms and found that, as April arrives, the first shipments of osmanthus-fragrance lychees are being launched one after another.

Many consumers are willing to pay premium prices to try new fruits. According to data from one platform, the price of 1 jin of Hainan osmanthus-fragrance lychees is 78.8 yuan. Another platform shows that premium osmanthus-fragrance lychees weighing 2 jin are priced at as much as 164 yuan, which comes to 82 yuan per jin; sales have already reached 1000+ units. There are also platforms where sellers list links such as “Premium-grade osmanthus-scented lychees sell for only 10 days.” The page information shows a hand-held price of 98.9 yuan per jin, with 7 units sold so far; it has already been delisted.

Lychee production is divided into “high-yield years” and “low-yield years.” 2025 is a high-yield year for lychees. With abundant supply, “feizixiao” lychees have been sold in many places at “cabbage prices” of 10 yuan for 2 jin. The price of “lychee king” is around 25 yuan per jin, and osmanthus-fragrance lychees once dropped to below 20 yuan.

Meanwhile, according to the agricultural product trading platform “1MuTian Agricultural Big Data,” early-ripening lychees such as Hainan osmanthus-fragrance already have sellers offering them, and the procurement prices at the production area are already around 60 yuan per jin.

A copy editor checked the prices of lychees on some online platforms. There aren’t many sellers listing lychees, and after conversion, the price also needs to reach 80–100 yuan per jin!

The industry broadly expects

this year will be a “low-yield year” for lychees

An researcher at the 1MuTian Industry Research Institute, Xu Lifeng, analyzed for a reporter that, based on the production cycle of lychees in previous years, lychees in 2026 are expected to be in the “low-yield year” stage. Currently, the rate of flower initiation has dropped noticeably. This is mainly because the “extraordinary high-yield year” production in 2025 reached a record high, which caused nutrient depletion in the trees. Combined with climate factors such as a warm winter in major producing areas like Guangdong during 2025–2026, it has affected flower-bud differentiation. It is expected that lychee varieties such as osmanthus-fragrance, “nuomi chi” (glutinous rice lychee), and feizixiao will all experience some degree of yield reduction.

Xu Lifeng said that a reduction in lychee output will inevitably lead to higher prices. The specific extent of price increases will also depend on subsequent fruit set and other conditions. Taking Guangdong as an example, it is expected that starting in April, lychees from different regions will gradually enter the market. When last year’s high-quality “osmanthus-fragrance lychees” from Maoming were just released, the price was above 80 yuan; this year, it is expected to be even higher.

The reporter observed that, amid rapid changes in fruit prices, e-commerce platforms’ sales strategies for fruits are also becoming more diversified, targeting consumers’ expectations of price changes.

“Pre-sale” lychees have appeared on a certain e-commerce platform. A lychee orchard owner posted a pre-sale link for “lychee king” on the e-commerce platform. Although the lychee king’s expected release time is early June, the seller has already listed a price of 148 yuan for 5 jin, roughly 30 yuan per jin. The seller says that once consumers place an order, the price will be locked in and will not be affected by increases in market prices; if market prices fall, they can return the goods. Page information shows that 132 people already “want it.”

At the same time, the reporter found that frozen lychees from last year are still hot-selling on the e-commerce platform. One product link shows that the price of 2 jin of frozen lychees is 28.8 yuan. The seller states that these are lychees preserved using rapid freezing technology. Although many consumers commented that the texture and taste were not ideal, “by selling despite being out of season,” they have managed a price gap that still attracts many lychee lovers to place orders. Page information shows that more than 10,000 units have been sold so far.

Netizens: “Lychee freedom” will be tough this year

Regarding the news that lychees will be cut significantly,

some netizens exclaimed directly:

“This year’s lychee freedom will be difficult.”

Others also said:

“I ate too many last year; I’ll take a break this year.”

There are also netizens who said:

“I’m looking forward to next year’s lychees—

‘able to bend and stretch’—let’s get more next year.”

So, what do you think?

We welcome you to leave comments and interact

A wealth of information and precise analysis—right here in the Sina Finance APP