The Association of Fruit Exporters of Chile AG (ASOEX) and ABRAFRUTAS (Association of Producers and Exporters of Fruit of Brazil) recently held a meeting at the ASOEX offices in Santiago to analyze the current situation of the fresh fruit industries in Chile and Brazil and to seek common solutions.
The meeting was attended by Ronald Bown, Miguel Canala-Echeverria, and Sergio Maureira, i.e. the president, general manager, and general secretary of ASOEX, and by Jorge de Souza and Luis Rafaelli, the director of Projects of ABRAFRUTAS, and the director of International Relations of the Brazilian association, respectively. Charif Christian Carvajal, president of SHAFFE and ASOEX Marketing Director for Europe and Asia, attended the meeting virtually.
“It was a very positive meeting. ASOEX and ABRAFRUTAS are important references in the southern hemisphere and in the world when it comes to the production and export of fresh fruit. We analyzed the common problems that the Chilean and Brazilian industries are facing, such as the logistical difficulties to export, to continue working on solutions to face these problems jointly,” stated the president of ASOEX.
“ASOEX is an excellent benchmark for ABRAFRUTAS and for all fresh fruit associations in the world. Having the opportunity to visit their offices and exchange some ideas with their managers was great. We basically focused on the issues that are affecting our industry. The main issue we discussed was logistics. In the aftermath of the pandemic, this issue has become a nightmare for all fresh fruit exporters, both operationally and cost-wise. There is a shortage of container and shipping line availability. In addition, costs have increased dramatically. Thus, the idea is for ABRAFRUTAS and ASOEX to work together to measure the effects and think of possible solutions. Both associations have common interests and must work together on our common challenges,” stated Jorge de Souza, the Project Director of ABRAFRUTAS.
The representative of ABRAFRUTAS also highlighted the support of SHAFFE, an entity of which ABRAFRUTAS and ASOEX are members, for the realization of the meeting.
It should be noted that Brazil is the world's third-biggest producer of fresh fruit, with about 44 million tons per year. However, the country only exports 2.5% of its fruit production.
For more information:
ASOEX
www.asoex.cl