Chilean cherries are very popular in China and every year the imported volumes increase. Furthermore, the Chilean cherry season opens right before Chinese New Year, which really boosts sales. In China everyone buys each other fruit as a new year’s present so demand for imported cherries is very high.
Giddings Cerasus is a Chilean company which sells its fruit to China. For them, this season went pretty well, as their export manager Gonzalo Larrain reports: “We maintained the export volumes from last year. Our fruit for China is always packaged in a gift box format, because that attracts the Chinese consumers most and is the most suitable packaging for that time.”
New players on the market?
The growing export volumes from Chile, and their success on the Chinese market, has attracted many other countries to start producing cherries for export to China. Though as Gonzalo Larrain explains, it will take a while before they can reach the same quality level as Chile.
“We believe it will take some time for new suppliers to understand the minimum quality requirements the Chinese consumers are looking for in cherries. New players have been focused on different markets and it will be a learning process to position their product correctly in China. Even currently we have competitors like Australia and New Zealand, but because of the consumer’s preferences and actual volumes there is no real threat to our industry. Furthermore, we are constantly developing our own products as well, to prevent stagnation. With the development of two new varieties, we are trying to extend our supply period and improve our supply to China. This year is the first time we presented these new varieties to our Chinese clients and they liked them a lot.”
Chilean blueberry
Another product which is very popular from Chile is the blueberry. Though blueberries do not have the same high demand as cherries, Gonzalo Larrain mentions: “Chile has already a big production of blueberries, but it is mainly exported to different markets such as the US and Europe. We need to consider that blueberries in China, associated to good varieties and qualities is gaining growth in China. Of course, it is not as popular as it is with cherries today, but we see with good trust how it is evolving and the opportunities that come with it. This year we have already been seeing good results to the new varieties, which together with a consistent quality is key for sustained growth. In that sense it has been a core aspect of our strategy with cherries to Chinese market and we are working to do the same with our blueberries.”
Chinese participation in Chile’s export chain
These days more Chinese fruit sellers are going to Chile to do deals directly and sometimes even to buy an orchard and control the whole chain themselves. This could be seen as a future threat for the Chilean fruit export industry, but Gonzalo Larrain states : ”It is difficult to predict the future, but definitely we have been seeing vertical integration in the business in both ways. It is important to understand that these are very different businesses and each has very different challenges and aspects to improve. The maintenance of transparency and good practices is key to maintain a sustainable industry. We do see there is a tendency for more participation of Chinese, but we don’t see this as a threat, as they will always be a minority. We foresee that for the biggest part of Chilean industry will be controlled by Chileans, considering their local knowledge in growing, packing and exporting.”
