In January 2016, Chilean fresh cherries achieved entry into the South Korean market under the Systems Approach. This 2016-2017 season, Chile started sending the first major volumes of cherries to South Korea. During this time Chile had already established itself as the second most important origin of this fruit for the Korean market, preceded only by the United States and followed by New Zealand and Australia; countries that entered the market a few years before Chile.
"The positive reception that our cherries had in the Korean market and from its consumers makes us think that we have a great opportunity to expand our shipments and improve our position in this market in the future. Our exports have been enhanced by promoting our product's availability, origin, quality, taste, and health characteristics," Charif Christian Carvajal, ASOEX's Marketing Manager for markets in Asia and Europe, told SimFRUIT.
Carvajal added that "cherries have become a popular fresh fruit in Korea, which in 2016 imported a record 14,000 MT of cherries."
According to the professional, Chile ranked as the second supplier of cherries in Korea this season with 690 MT, preceded by the US with 12, 367 MT, and followed by New Zealand and Australia. "The United States leads the market with a 90% share, but we believe that Chile, which now has 5% of the market, will increase its presence as we learn more about the market and as consumers start favoring the Chilean product. Besides having a good quality and delicious product, we also have more competitive prices than some of our competitors, which is a positive thing to grow here," he said.
The Marketing Director of ASOEX said the promotional activities had been carried out with ProChile and that Chilean authorities, as well as the Chilean Ambassador to Korea and the commercial attache of Chile in that country had participated in them. Some of the action include the official launch of the shipping season and the arrival of the first batch of Chilean cherries to this market, which "generated 32 publications in media directed to final consumers, especially for housewives that, according to our analysis, are the main buyers of these family products and, therefore, have a strong influence to generate consumer trends. We have implemented 305 day-activations to be developed in major retail chains in South Korea in 2017. We've also had more than 100,000 visits in online media and social networks on issues related to the Chilean cherries. In addition, we also have more than 200 new links created for the product and its use, especially recipes," Carvajal said.
The promotions conducted so far in 2017 took place in the largest retail chains in Korea: E-Mart, Lotte Mart, and Home Plus. We had exhibitions and tastings highlighting the Chilean origin of the product. The promotions were very well received by the customers of each store.
Source: simfruit.cl