The Chilean walnut industry will start 2017 with a new big milestone. In fact, the Chilean Walnut Commission (ChWC), a group that brings the entire walnut exporting sector together, and ChileNut, in which the producers of this nut predominate, are reported to be working on a Joint Operating Agreement (AOC) to address the great challenges of this industry.
Karl Samsing and Álvaro Jiménez, both in charge of the presidency of their respective entities (ChWC and ChileNut), have set as one of their main objectives to join forces in the face of the sector's great challenges. After a long lasting desire to achieve it, both associations reached a historic Joint Operation Agreement.
What this mainly means is that both associations will join forces in an AOC, organised through a council that brings together the two entities in order to coordinate this common effort. This new organization will be created by integrating all the exporters of both associations under a single board, with much better coordinated market strategies, information and promotional activities. A second board will coordinate all individual producers and agricultural associates to exporters in order to bring together the large Chilean walnut production.
This is a first move that in the future should lead to having a single voice. This AOC as a whole now represents 80% of all exporters and 90% of all walnut producers in Chile.
"With more than 40,000 hectares of walnut trees planted, our crop has the second largest acreage in the country, only behind grapes. Our size, together with the new challenges presented by the international markets, demanded a common strategy to face the future when it comes to technical or legal aspects and in the field of market intelligence, among others," said the President of ChileNut Álvaro Álvaro Jiménez.
ChWC President Karl Samsing added that it was already necessary to work together to promote Chilean walnuts in the international markets with a single campaign lasting 3 to 5 years. To this end, we will seek funding that will come from public and private contributions (exporters and producers). "We want to highlight the superiority of our product compared to those from other origins, since our walnut is appreciated by the markets because of its outstanding quality, colour and flavour, which make it worthy of a higher price," he stated.
Jiménez said that, given the volume and market penetration the greater Chilean walnut supply will entail, it is essential to look after current and future markets. To achieve that it will be necessary for all actors involved to work together. A small shipment that does not meet a sanitary or quality requirement can result in a tremendous loss for the whole country and lead to sanctions for all producers.
The Chilean walnut industry has been one of the most dynamic agricultural sectors over the last 5 years, recording notable increases in the number of hectares planted with walnut trees and resulting in larger volumes produced and exported. All this has led to the acreage in 2016 (mostly concentrated in the 5th and 8th regions) to exceed 42,000 hectares (26,000 hectares in 2011), the harvested volume to reach 75,000 tonnes (37,000 in 2011) and the shipments to place the country as the world's second largest exporter and the largest of the southern hemisphere.
Regarding the future, Karl Samsing estimates that the 2017 harvest will reach 95,000 tonnes and that by 2021 this figure will reach 166,000 tonnes; "another reason to join forces and look after the entire chain. We must not work in a fragmented way; this is the right way to allow our industry to consolidate in the long term."