Which country produces the best Shine Muscat grapes – China, Japan or South Korea – and why are they so popular in Hong Kong?
- Japan’s Muscat Shine grape is an expensive variety that is very popular in Hong Kong, but cheaper versions from Korea and Chinese are gaining ground
- Hong Kong has become a Shine Muscat grape battlefield, with producers from Japan, South Korea and China each laying claim to grow the best
The Shine Muscat grape – developed in Japan – is popular in Hong Kong. Despite its high price, the fruit is eaten for special occasions or given as a sign of respect.
Hongkongers’ fascination with Japan and its produce helped it dominate the market for this fruit. But with an increasing number of producers from South Korea and China offering high-quality grapes at a better price, the Shine Muscat market is changing.
For Fiona Mok, 29, an office worker in Hong Kong, eating Shine Muscat grapes was once reserved for special occasions – bringing them as gifts when visiting a friend’s house for a meal – but now she enjoys them as everyday fruit.
“My boyfriend bought me a bunch of Japanese Shine Muscat worth about HK$400 (US$51) as a gift. But for me, they tasted similar to Chinese ones,” she said. If it was up to her she would choose the cheaper grape, she added.
For price-sensitive Hongkongers, the Shine Muscat’s high price – Japanese grapes can cost anywhere between HK$100 and HK$500 a bunch, while Korean varieties can go for up to HK$300 – has been a hurdle. But the cheaper Chinese Shine Muscat, which costs HK$50 to HK$100 a bunch, is more affordable.
As a result, Chinese Shine Muscats have been edging out their competitors over the past few years.
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According to Euromonitor data cited by the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT), grape consumption in Hong Kong increased every year on average between 2017 and 2020, but dropped by 16.6 per cent in 2021. Another aT data set shows the volume of fresh grapes imported into Hong Kong fell from 240,798 tonnes in 2020 to 192,011 tonnes in 2021.
However, imports of Shine Muscat grapes from South Korea and China to Hong Kong grew.
Hong Kong imported 421 tonnes of fresh grapes from Korea, worth HK$49.9 million, in 2020, and 567 tonnes, worth HK$69.8 million, in 2021.
At the same time, its imports of fresh grapes from China also rose, from 656 tonnes, worth HK$9.5 million, in 2020 to 896 tonnes, worth HK$13 million, in 2021.
China reportedly has no rights to sell Shine Muscat grapes to overseas countries, but is able to export to Hong Kong as the market is categorised as domestic.
Kim Suk-ju, managing director of aT, says the consumption of Shine Muscat grapes in Hong Kong has been “growing over the last few years”.
Industry insiders say that, even though the three countries grow the same variety, they taste different.
Kenneth Lee, CEO of fresh food importer Top Weal, who buys Shine Muscat grapes from all three countries, says that Korean and Japanese ones are “similar [in taste], and sweeter than Chinese ones”.
For aroma, Korean Shine Muscat grapes have the edge, he says. “For texture and crispness, Japanese premium ones are the best,” he adds, citing in particular grapes from Okayama. Korean grapes rate between premium and normal for texture, he adds.
Chinese Shine Muscat grapes have thicker skins and “less aroma, sourness and sweetness”, according to Lee.
While China is expanding its market share with its relatively cheap Shine Muscat grapes and Japan is trying to maintain its exports through established distribution networks, Korean exporters are targeting the middle and high end of the market to attract customers.
In September and October, aT joined hands with the Hyatt Regency Hong Kong hotel to introduce a Stay & Treat package which included a Korean Shine Muscat afternoon tea set and a bunch of Korean Shine Muscat grapes.
The organisation has also amped up advertising of Korean Shine Muscat grapes on Hong Kong trams this year.
“Japanese Shine Muscat grapes were already known to many. So we thought introducing Korean Shine Muscat grapes, which are new to Hong Kong customers, could give customers unique experiences,” says Scarlett Chan, assistant manager for marketing and communications at the Hyatt Regency.
Behind the story of the Shine Muscat war
The rights to sell the Shine Muscat grape overseas are supposed to be fully owned by Japan. Shine Muscat was a variety developed by the Japanese National Agriculture and Food Research Organisation in 1988, and it was registered as an official variety in Japan in 2006.
However, the Japanese organisation missed the deadline to register the exclusive rights to sell Shine Muscat grapes in overseas markets, and to secure protected rights to the plant variety under the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (Trips). Those rights expire six years after the domestic registration of a plant variety if the rights owner doesn’t file an application.
During this time, South Korea applied to register its Shine Muscat grape variety and was granted rights to sell the grapes in 2012 without paying royalties.
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It’s not the first time something like this has happened. Beni Haruka, a sweet potato variety developed in Japan, has been widely cultivated in South Korea after its developer also missed the deadline to register for the exclusive rights to sell in overseas markets.
In 2021 Japan passed a law to restrict the overseas sale of seeds and seedlings. The law stipulates that to protect the intellectual property of a new breed, its developer can designate the countries to which it can be exported.
The government is reported to be considering telling developers of new plant varieties to limit cultivation to domestic growers.
