After apples became the leading Chilean fruit export in 2014, in terms of tons, surpassing table grapes, they have had a 21.7% decline in exports this year, revealed Odepa in its agroforestry latest trade balance.
The report, prepared by the research department of the Ministry of Agriculture based on data from the National Customs Service, indicates that apple exports during the first half of the year amounted to 411,000 tons, far fewer than the 525,000 tons exported between January and June 2014.
This sudden decrease in initial projections is due to the uprooting of unproductive orchards that didn’t yield enough to compete in the markets, climatic factors, and an irregular colour of the fruit, among other reasons, stated the Federation of Fruit Producers of Chile, Fedefruta.
Antonio Walker, director of the guild, producer from Curico and president of Fruseptima, said they had started to uproot all the orchards that, because of their age, had production or quality issues. "Apple prices are very tight in the international market and we need to have a production without any quality limitations to have positive numbers at the end of the season," he said.
"We have to produce a good fruit, change old orchards for attractive varieties that yield high volumes, and be very efficient to stay in the apple business," he said.
In their new business strategies, the Chilean producers have redesigned their sales strategies and increased commercial programs to the Middle East (a region that for the first time surpasses Europe in Chilean apple imports), Latin America and Asia. "We are trying to avoid the old continent because of the oversupply of apples they have," said the union leader. "This change is here to stay, we must conquer other markets apart from Europe and the United States," he added.
Source: economiaynegocios.cl