The Chilean fresh cherry industry closed the 2022-2023 season after exporting a record volume and consolidating Chile's position as the world's leading cherry supplier.
A total of 415,315 tons were exported to the world, which represents an increase of 16.55% over the previous year. Cherries account for 24.83% of Chile's total fresh fruit exports to date (April 3, 2023).
"Without a doubt, this has been a very good season for our cherries after two very difficult campaigns. This season, not only the logistics worked better, but the weather also helped us obtain a very good quality product. Besides, the lifting of the COVID-Zero restrictions in China allowed people to leave their homes more freely, which also boosted consumption. There were many favorable factors for our shipments," said Iván Marambio, president of ASOEX.
For her part, Claudia Soler, manager of the ASOEX Cherry Committee, said that "what I would highlight this season is that the fruit moved smoothly, which is very important, especially in China, and that prices changed depending on the product's size, i.e., larger sizes yielded more. This makes it clear to us that the Chinese consumer is an informed consumer who rewards good products and punishes those that do not meet their expectations."
Regarding the promotional campaign, the professional added that "it was quite successful, since we exceeded the goals we had set for each of the promotional activities in China, the United States and Korea, where the objective was to strengthen our presence and knowledge. Meanwhile, in Thailand, Vietnam and India the target was the opening of markets. In the specific case of China, where about 89% of our cherry exports go, consumers were very eager to buy Chilean cherries."
Another key aspect of this campaign "was undoubtedly that the logistics worked quite well, which allowed us to diversify the ports in Chile and China, and thus reach other regions, such as secondary or second-tier cities, more efficiently and with a better product. Those regions are also where we seek to promote greater consumption of our cherries and where we must give a push to our promotions in order to reach the volumes we expect in the future," she said. More than 5,000 containers were shipped during the final week. This achievement relied on the coordination of the logistics chain, where the diversification of the ports was key.
However, "there are still challenges that we must address. In Korea, for example, there are still logistical issues to be resolved to ensure that our fruit arrives in good condition," she said.
For more information: www.asoex.cl