Chile has the longest peach season in the world, as it lasts almost 12 weeks between January and March. This year's harvest is over, and Hector Arriagada, from Aconcagua Foods, a food processor, said it had been a very good campaign. "It has been a very normal year, but we consider that a normal year is always a good year because it means we have enough volume for our customers; not too much, so prices have not gone down. In fact they have increased by 5 and 10%," he said optimistically.
More than a century old
Aconcagua Foods is a Chilean company with its headquarters in the metropolitan region of Santiago. It was created more than a century ago, but at that time it produced and commercialized fresh fruits. Some 50 years ago, the company became a fruit processor and it is now part of Mexico's La Costeña group.
Its biggest product is canned peaches, as it processes 80,000 tons per year, but it also works with apples, pears, grapes, cherries, and vegetables. In total the company processes 120,000 tons of fresh fruits and 8,000 tons of vegetables.
Own brands
Its biggest market is Mexico, although it also allocates a large part of its production to the domestic markets of Chile, Peru, and the United States. "These markets consume a lot of this product, as they are already used to it. We have a strong position in these markets because we have our own brands in them: in Mexico we have La Costeña, while in Chile and Peru we have the Aconcagua brand," he said.
January to March
"We are the largest peach processor in the entire southern hemisphere, and we work very closely with a total of 200 producers. The peach harvest takes place between January and March, and in that time we wash, treat, peel, can, and preserve them so that we have them ready when there is demand, at any time of the year," Arriagada said. Finally, he said the company had revenues for some 120 million dollars each year.
