In Fedefruta's regional meeting in Los Andes, Juan Eduardo Laso, chairman of the Raisin Committee for Chilealimentos, called producers to evaluate this alternative.
A number of issues of great interest to producers were approached on Tuesday August 14, during this event that was conducted by Fedefruta in conjunction with the Association of Farmers of the Andes at the Pascual Baburizza Institute.
One of these subjects was the raisin as an emerging product in which the Chairman of the Raisin Committee for Chilealimentos, Juan Eduardo Laso raised the option for this kind of product to be a complement to the fresh fruit business and not a
competition.
In this regard, he said that, "the raisin business is extremely interesting in Chile and worldwide. Our country has an important growth capacity, we have room to grow without reducing prices. We are not a competition for fresh fruit, however, we can help benefit fruit grower's business to have a higher profitability for their fields, directing hectares which present a degree of difficulty for raisins," said Juan Eduardo Laso.
Laso also recalled that throughout the world, "both productions are integrated and today's agribusiness is pretty tight, therefore, the search for formulas to make it profitable is a must. Raisins deliver a better cash flow and shows that it is a complementary business to fresh fruit export."
The Chilean grape sector exports to 79 countries and is the fourth largest worldwide. The U.S., Europe, Russia and Latin America are its main markets and by 2013 it is estimated that Chile will reach 70,000 tons.
Currently it is around 65,000 tons. For Laso, expectations are to reach 100,000 tons
to sustain a consistent supply over time, while acknowledging that with the current levels, "the industry is doing very well."
Factors that may affect producers in opting for this crop, "is the security in the price (it is now around USD 2.50 per kilo), the demand and a growing market, especially with the opening of markets in Asia and the Middle East. In addition, today the inventory management is critical in multinationals and our product is counter season, which is an advantage for them," said the Chairman of the Raisin Committee for Chilealimentos.
Source: Fedefruta