The president of ASOEX, Iván Marambio, and Ignacio Caballero, coordinator of the Table Grape Committee and ASOEX Marketing Director, pointed out that with the current Strategic Plan, Chile's table grape industry is taking an important step to boost its competitiveness in the international markets.
"Last season was one of the most difficult for the Chilean fresh fruit industry, but especially for our sector. Thus, it is important to have this new committee, which has allowed us to deliver the first Strategic Plan of the Chilean Table Grape Committee. With this plan, we aim to recover competitiveness and quality in our industry. We will achieve this by working together and committed as a sector. Chile remains the world's largest supplier of table grapes; therefore, the Plan will make it possible to move forward with greater strength than ever," said Caballero.
The Plan is based on three axes:
- Leadership, coordination, unity and communication.
- Improving the fruit's condition.
- Improving the competitiveness.
Caballero added that, in order to achieve these goals, "the Committee has set 16 initial actions, including the development of an estimations program, aimed at providing the best information available on the situation of export volumes during the course of the season. The estimations program is already being implemented, so a first estimate has consequently been delivered already."
He added that the Plan foresees the publication of at least four estimates during the 2022-2023 season, so a second estimate will be delivered on October 21, a third one at the end of November, and a fourth one at the end of December 2022.
First estimate
The president of ASOEX released the first estimate of the Chilean export grape industry for the 2022-2023 season made by the ASOEX Table Grape Committee. The estimate was built with information provided by 40 companies, which accounted for 68% of all exports in the 2021-2022 season, and which are members of the committee.
"According to this first estimate, we expect to ship 70.6 million standard 8.2 kg boxes to the world. Even though this figure will be 5.1% lower than last season's, there will be fruit of good size and sweetness, which is positive to ensure good consumption levels," he said.
He also said that it is important to keep in mind that this estimate can still change, depending on what happens during the fruit's development.
In terms of varieties, Iván Marambio said that shipments of new varieties are expected to exceed 36 million boxes, followed by traditional varieties, with more than 22 million boxes, and Red Globe, with just over 12 million boxes. "Our estimate shows that the Chilean table grape industry is committed to producing new varieties, which are not just better received in the destination markets, but also ensure a better condition on arrival at destination, thus meeting the demands of the market and consumers.
As for the fruit color, this first estimate shows that there is a significant volume of red grapes, exceeding 28 million boxes. These grapes are highly desirable in international markets such as the United States and Asia. Meanwhile, green varieties exceed 23 million boxes, while there will be more than 12 million boxes of Red Globe, and just over 6 million boxes of black varieties.
Lastly, it is worth recalling that last July, the ASOEX board of directors ratified the formation of a new Table Grape Committee to come up with strategies that could help in facing the various challenges that the sector has been dealing with for some time.
For more information: www.asoex.cl