In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, red sweet peppers from Central and South America were introduced to China through India and rooted and propagated in Yidu County, Shandong Province, forming a unique variety of "Yidu pepper". No one expected that this red fruit would eventually cross mountains and seas, becoming an important role in China's foreign trade history. The origin of China's dehydrated red pepper's foreign trade lies in the wave of reform and opening up and the exploration of agricultural industrialization.
In the 1950s, the dried bell pepper industry quietly began in China, relying heavily on handmade production and simple equipment, with products only meeting domestic demand. The real turning point began with the promotion of reform and opening up in the 1980s, when the government introduced policies to encourage technological transformation of agricultural product processing enterprises, laying the groundwork for the emergence of foreign trade. Shandong, with decades of cultivation foundation in "Yidu pepper", took the lead in building a preliminary industrial chain from fresh pepper picking to dehydration processing. At that time, the annual planting area had reached 5000 acres, providing sufficient raw materials for export reserves.
Technological breakthroughs have become the key engine for the launch of foreign trade. Traditional hot air drying technology has high energy consumption and unstable quality, making it difficult to meet international market requirements. After the 1990s, enterprises in Shandong, Henan and other places gradually introduced heat pump drying equipment, which not only reduced energy consumption by 20%, but also extended the shelf life of products to more than 18 months. In 1998, the first batch of export-oriented vegetable enterprises in Shandong passed HACCP certification and obtained the "pass" to enter the European and American markets. This year also became an important milestone in the acceleration of dried bell pepper's foreign trade.
At the beginning of the 21st century, China's dehydrated red pepper foreign trade entered a period of large-scale development. In 2000, Qingzhou Taifeng Food and other enterprises were established, and with steam sterilization equipment and multi system certification, their products quickly entered more than 20 countries such as Spain and Germany. In 2006, the total export value of dehydrated vegetables in China exceeded 150 million US dollars, and the proportion of red bell peppers as an important category continued to increase. Jiaozhou has gradually become a global distribution center for chili peppers, with a peak daily trading volume of tens of thousands of tons and an export volume accounting for over 70% of the country's total, forming a pattern of "pepper production in the northwest, processing in Jiaozhou, and global distribution".
The origin of dehydrated red pepper's foreign trade, from exotic crops introduced in the late Ming Dynasty to hot selling products in global trade, is a vivid epitome of China's agriculture embracing the world. The growers who rooted themselves in the land, the craftsmen who tackled challenges, and the merchants who opened up the market jointly wrote the legend of this red fruit going out to sea.
Post time: Nov-27-2025
