The Maule Region produces the most kiwifruits and, within it, the Province of Curico has positioned itself as the 'Productive Heart' of this national industry. The province can boom again, taking advantage of new opportunities that are opening in the international markets so that the kiwi is once again profitable, or it can maintain the current statu quo, and slowly disappear.
The Association of Fruit Exporters of Chile AG (ASOEX), together with the Kiwi Committee, have organized a Kiwi Seminar in Curico. "The goal is to visualize, through specific cases and experiences, the opportunities that are opening up for the Chilean kiwi industry in international markets, mainly derived from a better distribution in emerging markets like Asia, increased consumption, increased demand, and increased world production. However, taking advantage of these new possibilities that would allow the industry to recover its profitability, requires taking on challenges, where improving the quality of the fruit is key," said Carlos Cruzat, Chairman of the Kiwi Committee.
The Curico Seminar is one of the two regional seminars of kiwi that will be held within the framework of the "Cycle of Technical-Commercial Update of the fruit industry: a contribution for the regions." The conference is sponsored by ProChile and by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Government of Chile.
The Curico Kiwi Seminar will be held on Tuesday, June 20 at the Curico Union Club, and a similar seminar will be held on June 23 at the Sun Monticello Event Center in San Francisco de Mostazal, Rancagua.
The kiwi from Curico
"The province of Curico accounts for a third of Chile's kiwi production. The production differs, depending on the location and climates of the orchards, as some are nearer the coast, which has a milder climate, and others are located in the pre-mountain range, which has a more extreme weather for kiwi crops," said Cruzat.
According to the professional, the oldest kiwifruit crops in Chile are also in this area. "Some orchards are over 30 years old, but the area also reflects the productive momentum that was generated in the year 2000. It is the area where the largest number of yellow kiwis were planted, so Curico is not only the largest production center in the country, but also the place where new varieties are tested," said the professional.
He added: "Today, kiwi is an important fruit for producing and exporting companies, as it allows them to continue the business throughout the year. Currently, this fruit has the possibility of recovering its profitability, given that there is a very favorable world outlook. There are markets like China that want to consume more kiwi, that is, their consumption, which will be supplied by the Southern Hemisphere and the plantations that China is developing, is growing."
Quality, quality, quality
"Taking advantage of these opportunities depends on improving quality. The problem and the solution are in Chile, not abroad. We must produce kiwis that have the quality demanded by international markets, which we can do. In fact, there are several producers who are doing well, earning good money and that want to plant more," stated Carlos Cruzat.
For this reason, said Cruzat, the Seminars of June 20 and June 23 will be focused on presenting, in a practical way, experiences that allow participants to visualize the product that the international markets are looking for when buying kiwi, as well as successful national and international experiences, so that the participants can see that improving the product's quality can make a big difference.
To this effect, Kurt Huang, the Manager of the Huizhan of Shanghai wholesale market, will speak at the seminar, where he'll present a talk called "A Chinese importer's vision of the Chilean fruit." In turn, Carlos Vila, the Director of Kiwi Atlantico from Spain, will talk about how a group of Spanish producers were able to organize, join, and work to produce a high quality kiwi that could compete, hand in hand, with the fruit of Zespri in Spain, which is a very competitive market worldwide.
"Another very interesting aspect of the seminars will be listening and learning how Chilean companies have changed their outlook and actions, obtaining successful results. Producers will talk to producers, without intermediaries," concluded the Chairman of the Kiwi Committee.
Source: SimFRUIT