Authorities of the Chilean Exporters' Association (ASOEX) and the Federation of Fruit Producers of Chile (Fedefruta) were present at the Fruittrade 2022 convention this past Oct. 12 and 13. During the occasion, the entities provided a preliminary forecast for the upcoming season and addressed the main difficulties faced in the previous period.

The plenary, which was organized by Fedefruta and ProChile, was attended by more than 1,800 people. During the opening day, the president of the federation spoke optimistically about the upcoming export season.

“We believe there is a positive season ahead. Hopefully, we are looking at 70-80 million tons for cherries and around 60 for grapes”, said Fedefruta’s president Jorge Valenzuela. 

“Unforeseen rains helped to wash out the main planting regions and we expect to see great export quality for our fruits. We are also aware of the efforts done by producers and exporters during last season, so we really need this one to improve.”

Ongoing issues

Regarding the logistics crisis, ASOEX’s general manager Miguel Canala-Echeverría told Fresh Fruit Portal that the association expects prices to be lower in  2023.

“Last season was a wake up call and we had to realize that this is a strategic matter, mainly because of the long distances between Chile and the leading destination markets”, said Canala-Echeverría. “We need to be able to secure both quality and shipping times for our products.”

The executive cited Covid-19 and lockdown, along with the lack of labor and high demand as some of the principal causes for the logistics issues faced by the sector. 

He also said that ASOEX is currently working with shipping companies to ensure that Chilean fruit exports arrive in time and with their high quality intact.

“We are working closely with ProChile and operators in China to reach out to the ports that receive our produce in Asia in order to comply with sanitary regulations in a timely manner”, he said.