"While there may still be factors that affect the final volume, we believe cherry exports will be between 15 and 20 percent higher in this 2015-2016 season than in the previous season," said Cristian Tagle, president of ASOEX's cherry committee.
Tagle said that by having a larger volume, the challenges of getting good quality fruit to export markets, boosting consumption, and announcing its availability through promotions would be much higher.
"Our main challenge is to ensure that the fruit reaches the target markets with the quality and conditions required by each of them. Last season we had some problems with that, because some fruit didn't arrive in China in the best conditions, and, although it was only in some specific cases, this affects the image of the industry and customer trust. We know we have a very good product, but it must reach its destination in good and secure conditions. Every producer and exporter has to work on this," he said.
Meanwhile, Ronald Bown, president of Asoex, said: "Since we started exporting cherries, our shipments have been rising, demonstrating the effort and work of Chilean growers and exporters, not only by increasing the production of this fruit, but also by meeting the quality requirements and safety demanded by target markets. Currently, Asia is our main market, as more than 80 percent of our cherries are sent to that region, where China leads as a destination."
Bown added: "The increase in the cherry volume also presents us with the opportunity and challenge of expanding target markets. We are working together with national authorities on this, and the process that will allow us to export fresh cherries in the short term to South Korea is very advanced. In fact, a delegation from the plant protection organization of that country will visit Chile next week to check, on-site, our production and export system for this fruit."
Regarding promotions, Tagle said they would continue to develop the Chinese market, with programs in point of sales, online sales platforms, and social networks, which are widely used in China and other markets in Asia.
"We also plan to conduct a campaign to promote our cherries in Brazil and the US between December 2015 and January 2016," he added.
Source: elurbanorural.cl