"We are at the start of the season, and there is a lot at stake this year. As at the start of every year, and throughout the season, we are in a hurry and many different things are going on. I try to share photos and information with the market. This year the season has had a slow start due to weather conditions, including colder days with lower temperatures. Harvest is starting slowly with delays in some of the areas,” explains Claudio Aliaga Echeverria.
“The industry has seen some challenging cherry export seasons under the effects of Covid. This season, everybody want to have a good, strong season, to recover confidence in the Chinese market and the international market.”
“Five weeks from now there will be a lot of fruit on the market, an important moment for our industry. This will test the season. We hope to see strong market and good prices throughout the season. Predictions by ASOEX forecast this year’s export crop to be considerably larger than last year’s. The difference will be particularly large in peak weeks including week 48, 49, 50, 51 and 52.”
Cherry export forecast numbers by ASOEX
Chile’s main cherry varieties, making up 80% of the total crop, are Santina, Lapin, Bing and Regina. all the industry works with this varieties and also with a new potential varieties mainly in the early part. “Every season comes with its own challenges. This year we are faced by labour shortages, weather problems like drought, the effects of climate change, higher costs of raw materials including carton, higher transit prices and global problems in container logistics. But the growers are learning from the past. We focus on good quality, better fruit, bigger sizes. We are meeting demands from the market. We saw very good fruit coming from the trees last week and the week before, big sizes, and we hope we keep this up until the end of the season.”
“We do all we can do from here. Then we have to look at the transit times and the market conditions in China. It's a complex season. We are making meaningful adjustments that will improve our crop quality, selection and shipments. Our partners companies are working to improve processes, packaging and transit and waiting times. In the future this will benefit our industry and export quality.”
“Now we have done the work, we are eager to see the results on the market. In February, when the main season comes to a close, we can see what we achieved. Every year we see the Chinese market growing and professionalizing, and I believe its future prospects are very positive.”
For more information:
Claudio Aliaga Echeverria
Telephone: +56962598721
Email: c.aliagae@outlook.com