At this time of year, the main citrus varieties being imported from Chile into the U.S. are clementines, navels and lemons. “Year-to-date shipments of these Chilean citrus varieties are showing strong increases over last year,” said Karen Brux with Fruits from Chile. As of week 26 (June 22-28), Chile had exported 18,940 tons of clementines to North America, an increase of 21 percent compared to last year. “However, for the entire season, we expect exports to come down 10 percent as the water shortage affecting the central northern area of Chile has led to a drop in production volumes of clementines. “The good news is that mandarin volumes are expected to increase by more than 40 percent, so we are anticipating an increase of 19 percent in total easy peeler volumes,” mentioned Brux. “We’re still in the early stages of the navel season, but shipments to North America through week 26 were 10,029 tons, an increase of 62 percent compared to last year. Finally, Chilean lemon exports to North America were 11,668 tons versus 2,788 tons last year, an increase of 319 percent.” Despite the large increase of lemon exports, the total increase this year is expected to be one percent as lemon exports already significantly increased in 2014.
Competition from other growing regions
Chile is not the only exporter of citrus fruit to North America. “There is certainly growing competition from South Africa, Uruguay and Peru,” said Brux. “However, Chile is able to offer a full range of high quality citrus, with tailored retail support. “We have a long history in the North American market, and the relationships and trust we’ve established during this time are substantial. Retailers continue to be impressed with the consistent quality of Chilean citrus, and they appreciate the focused marketing support we offer them,” Brux mentioned.
August-October promotions
“There is strong year-round demand for citrus, but clearly June and July are challenging months because of the summer holiday,” said Brux. “With so much citrus volume from Chile available during the August-October timeframe, we have numerous opportunities for back to school, Labor Day and even Halloween promotions. For example, mandarins are a perfect grab and go item for school lunches and soccer games, so we can run promotions focused on this. There are lots of fun citrus carvings and Halloween-themed ideas for citrus, so we work with retail social media to promote these on their Facebook pages.”
No cold sterilization
“Chile enjoys a very privileged position to supply the North American citrus market,” said Brux. Because of its phytosanitary situation – on all sides being surrounded by natural borders - Chilean citrus does not require cold sterilization treatments and therefore the fruit is shipped at its optimum temperature and is not subject to any conditions that may affect its quality. All shipments are sent to the US by sea transport and transit times are relatively short, about 12 to 15 days.
For more information:
Karen Brux
Fruits from Chile
Tel: 650-654-0777