The fresh Chilean cherry industry closed the 2022-2023 season with 415,315 tons exported, reflecting a growth of 16.5 percent compared to the previous season.
Cherries represent 24.8 percent of the total exports of fresh fruits from Chile to date (April 3, 2023), as reported by Simfruit.
“This, without a doubt, was a very good season for our cherries, after coming from two very difficult seasons. This season, not only logistics worked better, but also the weather helped us to have very good quality. In addition, the release of the COVID-Zero restrictions in China allowed people to leave their homes more freely, be it to do their shopping at the supermarket, wholesale markets or fruit stores, as well as attend and enjoy Chinese New Year celebration activities or travel to reunite with family members. All of which allowed us to promote greater consumption. There were many factors that combined very well and in favor of our shipments,” stated Iván Marambio, president of ASOEX BB #:156234.
Coinciding with this, Claudia Soler, executive director of the ASOEX Cherries Committee, said: “I would highlight this season that the fruit moved quickly, which is very important, especially in China, and that there was a price difference in terms of caliber, that is, the largest calibers were awarded. This makes it clear to us that the Chinese consumer is an informed consumer who rewards a good product and punishes those that do not meet their expectations.”
In terms of the promotional campaign, “it was quite successful, since we exceeded the goals that we set ourselves in each of the promotional actions in China, the United States and Korea, where the objective was to deepen our presence and knowledge, while in Thailand, Vietnam, and India the activities sought to open up the market. In the specific case of China, where about 89 percent of our cherry exports go, consumers were very eager to buy Chilean cherries. Perhaps the fact that they were locked up for so long made them want to treat themselves to gifts and, in addition, they were willing to buy products like cherries,” Soler said.
Today, the hectares have almost doubled, compared to 2019, reaching an estimated 61,559 hectares. While in 2019 the estimated hectares reached 38,391 hectares.
