Blueberries were a bright spot, and producers still expected increased volumes this year, but a different problem took place, which was the presence of the European Grapevine Moth, which resulted in the USDA requiring fumigations on all imported blueberries from December onwards, causing delays and drops in export volumes to the U.S.. The three week port strike in January did not help either.
Despite these many challenges, “we were still able to organise numerous promotions for blueberries, and we are just wrapping up a large-scale promotion for grapes that has been running in the U.S. and Canada,” explains Karen.
The Chilean kiwifruit season has only just started and the production is expected to drop by 50 to 60% compared to last year. New Zealand, which is the main competitor during the summer, will be shipping less conventional green varieties to the U.S. and this will thus become a very high-price market.
In terms of kiwi varieties, the growth of the SunGold in New Zealand is not going unnoticed, and Chilean growers are surely paying attention to consumer trends in the U.S. and other worldwide markets. Strategies are also being designed to be able to do a better job at growing and supplying consumers with the products they want.
As more markets develop, including Asia and the Middle East, Chilean exports also expand to new destinations, although the U.S. and Canada are still huge markets that cannot be ignored. Promotions in North America focus on the whole spectrum of Chilean fruit. The CFFA has a fresh fruit marketing budget to support trade, while the various specialised committees (blueberry, citrus, etc.) are devoted to specific sectors. Large retailers need to offer year-round supply of many products and the CFFA’s job and main challenge is to ensure that Chilean fruit has a prominent place on their shelves by consistently offering high quality produce.For more information: www.fruitsfromchile.com