2026 Post-Spring Festival Market Report on Water Chestnut Raw Materials and Processed Products

Water chestnut is a premium ingredient with dual-use of medicine and food. It is rich in starch, dietary fiber, vitamin C, calcium, phosphorus and other nutrients, and boasts dietary therapeutic effects such as clearing heat and promoting fluid production, cooling blood and detoxifying. Its canned and quick-frozen products are deeply favored by domestic and international markets for retaining original nutrients and enabling convenient consumption.

After the Spring Festival holiday, the domestic canned and quick-frozen food industry has fully resumed work and production. As core seasonal processed products, canned water chestnuts and quick-frozen water chestnuts maintain strong market demand. Major manufacturers are operating at full capacity, and demand for raw material procurement has been released intensively. At present, the water chestnut raw material market presents a prominent supply-demand imbalance, featuring the core operational trend of tight supply, strict quality requirements and rising prices. The details and forecasts are as follows:

I. Shortage of Raw Material Supply & Intensified Grading Diversification Raise Procurement Difficulty

The overall supply of water chestnut raw materials for processing is lower year-on-year, and high-quality processing-grade raw materials are particularly scarce. Driven by price premiums in the fresh food market, producing areas prioritize sorting large-sized and high-quality fruits for fresh food channels after harvesting. This has led to a persistent shortage of processing-grade small fruits (meeting processing standards, undamaged and uniform in size) urgently needed for factory production. Enterprises are facing fierce procurement competition, and the difficulty in securing raw materials has increased significantly compared with the same period in previous years.

II. Deteriorated Storage Conditions & Rising Loss Rate Push Up Raw Material Costs

This post-holiday period sees high humidity and sharp temperature fluctuations, which are unfavorable for the storage and preservation of water chestnuts. The proportion of black-rot and rotten fruits has risen sharply year-on-year (the loss rate in some producing areas has increased by 15%-20% compared with last year). The rising raw material loss rate has directly further reduced the effective supply. Coupled with cost increases in origin purchasing, sorting, warehousing and other links, the procurement cost of water chestnut raw materials for processing has been ultimately driven up.

III. High & Firm Prices with a Clear Upward Trend for the Market Outlook

High-quality water chestnut raw materials meeting export processing standards (pesticide residue-free, size-compliant and excellent in sensory quality) – which can maximize the retention of nutritional properties – have maintained the high price level before the Spring Festival. Supported by the supply-demand structure, there is no room for price decline;Prices of ordinary processing-grade raw materials have risen in tandem with the higher loss rate, and supply stability is insufficient;Combined with the current raw material inventory, capacity release pace and climate impact, it is predicted that the price of high-quality export-grade raw materials of water chestnuts might increase from April to May.

Core Summary & Procurement Recommendations

The strong correlation between the nutritional advantages of water chestnuts and consumer market demand has driven the continuous release of processing-side capacity. However, the current raw material market is characterized by a pattern of insufficient supply, increased losses and prices prone to rise but hard to fall. High-quality export-grade raw materials remain firm in price, and a price increase in the second quarter is certain. To ensure production continuity and control cost risks, the following suggestions are proposed:

1.    Factories and procurement teams shall sort out production plans as soon as possible, lock in core raw material suppliers in advance, and sign medium and long-term procurement agreements;

2.    Optimize raw material acceptance standards, reasonably adjust grading requirements on the premise of ensuring product nutrition retention rate and quality, and expand sources of qualified raw materials;

3.    3.   Pay close attention to weather changes and inventory dynamics in producing areas, track raw material price fluctuations in real time, and flexibly adjust the procurement pace.