The Chinese imported cherry market is gradually recovering and, over time, and through intense promotional activities, consumers are starting to have more confidence in imported fruits. With the Chilean cherry season ending, local cherries start to become available in the market and USA cherries after that. Mr. Gonzalo Matamala, the director of Giddings Fruit Asia & China, shared his insights into the past ‘cherry incident’, and his expectations for the upcoming USA cherry season.
Gonzalo gives his opinion, but from a different angle, “Of course the cherry incident damaged the sector badly this season, and financially, but I would rather see it as an opportunity. Over the years, cherry prices stayed at a very high level. Local consumers consider the cherry a high-end product, which only shares popularity among a certain group of consumers.” Gonzalo said, “this season, the low cherry prices provided a reason for consumers who do not normally consume cherries very often to try and purchase them. They started getting to know this type of fruit and started to buy larger volumes. I believe lots of them will become loyal ‘cherry-eaters’ for our next cherry season.”
“On top of this, many campaigns are helping to clarify this rumor on TV and other official media channels. The flooding news and online discussions in a way increased the general public’s awareness, not only of Chilean cherries, but also of Chilean imported fruits in general. I believe this also has a promotional effect if you see it from a positive angle.”
Now there are still late varieties in the market, and the season will be closed within this week. It goes without saying that most of the traders lost a lot of money this season. Not only us exporters, but our importer partners also got hurt. At the moment we are busying calculating the settlement. But we want to face the challenge together and support each other.
“Following on from the Chilean cherry season, we are now busy preparing for the USA cherry season. The ‘cherry incident’ gave the industry a lesson, that no one should ever underestimate the Chinese consumers’ concern for food safety. Even a single box of bad products will hurt the whole sector.” Gonzalo said, “we are paying even more attention to the processing procedure, and only select the highest-quality products for the Chinese market.”
"We can now feel that consumer confidence in cherries is gradually building up. This is at the beginning of the season, when available volumes are quite limited, and the price is under pressure. We are preparing 100+ containers for this season."
Along with cherries, Chilean plums started to become available in the market. A total of 8000-10000 containers will have arrived in China this season. The export volume was reduced a lot due to the pandemic, and the heavy rainfall in February also had a big impact on some early varieties. The sales of sugar plums are quite good at the moment, with a market price between 200-300 yuan [46.11 USD] per box. Besides plums, the nectarines also have a good price around 120-160 yuan [18.44-24.59 USD] per box.
Giddings Fruit China was established in Shanghai in 2017. Aside from blueberries, the company also exports large volumes of a variety of South American berries, cherries, and sugar plums to China each year. “We believe that being a trustworthy company with reliable products should be the key to excelling in the industry.” Gonzalo concluded.
Giddings Fruit
Gonzalo Matamala O (General Manager Asia & China)
Wechat: gonzalomatamala
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.giddingsfruit.com/en/
