Chilean cherry and blueberry shipments to China 'complex'

As in all seasons, the technical and commercial team of Pac Life, a manufacturing company of modified atmosphere packages, is present in the Chinese market; one of the most important and exclusive markets for the Chilean fresh fruit.

Pac Life is a major player in the packing of cherries and a leader in fresh blueberry shipments to Asia. As such, the company found it essential to have its professionals in the target markets during the month of January 2015, a period in which the largest volumes of Chilean cherries and blueberries arrive to said markets, so that they could witness, in situ, their customers' shipments arrive.

Mauricio Riquelme, founder and business manager of Pac Life, said: "This season presents a great challenge for exporters of fresh fruit and the use of technologies that contribute to the fruit's prolongation and preservation during the shipping and marketing processes in the Chinese market because of two very important and divergent factors. There's been a significant increase in the volume of exported fruit, so there is an oversupply, and the demand to date has been much lower than expected."

As a result, Riquelme said, prices have been lower than expected, the fruit has accumulated, and it is being stored for an indefinite time under conditions that are not optimal. This has affected the fruit's condition as some of the fruit has presented different levels of rotting and there have been fermentation problems caused by the thermal breaks and temperature increases suffered by the Chilean fruit that was shipped using other MAP packages that are less permeable and don't adapt as much to thermal breaks and high levels of condensation.

Ronald Caro, Pac Life's chief technical officer, stated that he had confirmed, during his visit to the markets of Shanghai (Huishan Market) and Canton (Jiagnan Market), that the cherries and blueberries shipped in Pac Life's packages had arrived safely and presented no problems to date. Furthermore, he stated that, "the containers used for these fruits have responded very well, despite the marketing conditions they have been subjected to. Producers now know that there were mayor rain events in Chile, and that the fruit will present higher rates of partings and decay than the fruit that was packaged prior to these climatic events."

He also says that, given the market dynamics seen to date, some receivers and exporters had called them to consult about what they could expect the fresh fruit's condition and conservation status would be in the coming weeks, prior to the Chinese New Year. According to him, the cherries that have had a good fungicide control, both in the garden and in the packaging process, and that have had no temperature problems during the trip and had been monitored from packing until arrival could be refrigerated, but not under the conditions they are stored in the markets (containers).

Waiting for those lots in good condition is a good strategy as they can be stored until the Chinese New Year and obtain better prices. It would be a mistake to store the fruit that doesn't comply with the conditions mentioned before.