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Fruit sector actors highlight preventive solutions for the next season
Chile
Tuesday 31 May 2022
VU
Under the impact of the pandemic, the logistics issue has been one of the serious factors that has affected the fruit business in general, in particular blueberries, table grapes and cherries, says the president of the Federation of Producers of Fruit, Jorge Valenzuela. (photo:eleconomistaamerica.cl)
According to Chilean fruit producers and exporters, last season's logistical problems generated million-dollar losses, which is why investments fell back, especially in fruit production. Faced with this, industry players have dialogued to prevent these problems in the future.
Under the impact of the pandemic, the logistics issue has been one of the serious factors that has affected the fruit business in general, in particular blueberries, table grapes and cherries, says the president of the Federation of Producers of Fruit, Jorge Valenzuela. He specified that last season about $2,000,000,000 of export fruit were lost.
In the union they do not know how long this logistical problem will remain and they hope that the rise in freight costs will not go down: "Hopefully it will not continue to rise, because its value has already doubled and even tripled.", says Valenzuela.
Among other negative factors, local producers highlight the rise in inputs and the low availability of manpower.
The president of the Chilean Fresh Fruit Exporters Association (
ASOEX), Ronald Bown, comments that despite the challenges, Chilean cherry exports in 2021/22 closed with a new volume record of 356,387 tons exported.
Solutions for the next season
Jorge Valenzuela also details that despite everything, the fruit sector is growing at 15% per year, and with the new orchards or those that will come into production, there is the possibility of being a trusted fruit supplier throughout the northern hemisphere.
In the case of cherries, as a solution for the next season, ASOEX proposes to continue opening new markets and working on the quality of the fruit, through the definition and publication of the first quality standards of the committee, which had good results, but were interrupted by logistical problems.
In addition, it will be important to carry out cargo planning, and agreements have already been reached with shipping companies to have maritime services that allow the fruit to be supplied in around 25 days to China, the main destination for Chilean cherries.
source: latribuna.cl
