Rotten report puts crush on fruit juice maker by Karen Chiu
Shares of China Huiyuan Juice Group (1886) plunged yesterday by as much as 7.66 percent following a mainland media report alleging the firm had used rotten fruit for juice production.
But Huiyuan said late last night that it had conducted an internal investigation and found that no spoiled fruit was used to make any of its products.
The nation's largest juice maker said it always stresses product safety.
Its shares ended at HK$4.22 yesterday, down by 4.96 percent.
Shares of China Haisheng Juice Holdings (0359) also fell up to 4.35 percent to close at HK$0.345, while trading was halted on Yantai North Andre Juice (2218).
They are the three locally listed mainland firms which apparently bought rotten fruit in bulk, the 21st Century Business Herald reported.
The report said they acquired rotten fruit from farmers, markets and distribution centers for 2 fens per kilogram. A man who worked for a fruit distribution center claimed to bring as much as 60 tonnes to these juice makers.
Truck drivers revealed that the decayed part of the fruit would then be washed away with water - which might contain sterilization and disinfection components - before being put into the juicer.
A spokesman for Huiyuan said fruit became rotten after being crushed during transportation, stressing that farmers do not intentionally sell damaged fruit to the firm.
Huiyuan said there are a number of internal technological selection processes for the purchase of fruit. It sends fruit which passes the process into the production line.
Andre Juice, on the other hand, said its factories do not operate in such a way, while no response was heard from Haisheng Juice.
Huiyuan serves as a major supplier for many airlines in the mainland. Its coverage of the Chinese aviation sector reached more than 80 percent.
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_deta ... 30924&fc=2
It's all about "how much you made when you were right" & "how little you lost when you were wrong"