Kiwi berries slowly catching on in North America

Like many fruits newer to the North American market, the kiwi berry is gradually catching on as a fruit worth investing in at the grocery store. “Slowly and slowly, people are learning about kiwi berries,” says Alexander Tscherebilo of Santiago-based Core Exports. “People need to know how to consume it because it’s not easy to know when the fruit is perfect for eating.
The kiwi berry, which is essentially a kiwi but scaled down to the size of a grape and has an edible skin, is high in vitamin C like its larger counterpart and is seen as somewhat more practical that the traditional kiwis.

The supply of the berries for Core Export is coming in from Chile. “Supply is normal and very steady, like it was in the past year,” says Tscherebilo. “We don’t see big changes in the future because there aren’t new plantations.” Core Export’s berries are hailing from the O’Higgins and Maule regions of Chile.

Demand from around the globe
Competing against the Chilean fruit are berries coming in from New Zealand. “But they start their season 10 days later and they supply mostly the Asian markets and parts of Europe,” says Tscherebilo. Core Export meanwhile is seeing its demand come from mostly the U.S. and Europe as well as some Asian demand.

For now prices are holding steady on the berries. “We decided to do some promotions for weeks eight and nine of the season, just to see if the demand will increase and to help make the product more accessible to people,” he says. “We hope to move more volume in the coming weeks and we’re pushing to promote a product that can only be sent by air for now. So it will always be an expensive product.”

For more information:
Alexander Tscherebilo
Core Exports
Tel: + 56 2 2307 5448
alexander.tscherebilo@core-export.cl
www.core-export.cl