Recently, Claudia Soler, manager of the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association (ASOEX) Cherry Committee (Comité de Cerezas), made a comprehensive analysis of the export situation of Chilean cherries in the 2022/23 season, including Chilean cherries. Competitors in the Chinese market, future challenges and development prospects of the industry. Soler called on Chilean exporters not to relax, even though they already dominate the global market for cherries.

• This season Chilean cherries are mainly shipped to China, the US and South Korea

Chilean SimFruit website reported that Soler said that Chilean cherry exports in the 2022/23 season will reach 415,315 tons, a year-on-year increase of 16.55%, mainly to the three major markets of China, the United States and South Korea.

Overall, the Far East is still the largest destination market. During the analysis period, it received 382,443 tons of cherries, a year-on-year increase of 16.08%, accounting for 92%. Among them, China (364,314 tons, +16.31%), South Korea (6546 tons, -5.13%) and Taiwan (6426 tons, +7.14%) imported the most.

Soler said that the industry has come out of a difficult situation that has lasted for many years. The challenges it faces are the continuation of the new crown pandemic, epidemic prevention restrictions, poor logistics, insufficient containers, delays in fruit shipments, and Chile at the beginning of the 2022/23 season. Truck drivers strike, etc., "Nevertheless, the data is still very positive, we have challenges and cannot rest on our laurels."

• Countries such as Argentina are seen as competitors

Soler said that Chile, the main supplier of cherries to China and the world, must bear in mind that there are competitors in the industry, such as Argentina, although due to bad weather conditions, such as hail, rainfall and temperature problems, Argentine cherries have not been produced this season. Exports fell 13% year-on-year to only about 4,700 tons.

Other competitors of Chilean cherries are: New Zealand, which ranks third in cherries export volume, mainly ships to Asian markets such as China, Taiwan and Vietnam, but its cherries production area is limited; Australia, which exports cherries Ranked fourth, it is also mainly for the Asian market, "but factors such as insufficient labor force and investment have negatively affected the cherries industry." The main challenge facing the industry is entering international markets.

In addition, Soler said that according to the latest agricultural census data, 65% of Chile's cherry plantations are in full production. "Our Regina and Santina plantations cover an area of about 62,000 hectares, and have grown exponentially with the increasing demand in China. In the past seven years, the average annual growth rate has reached 29%."

"The 2022/23 season is characterized by faster sales of cherries, which is a very positive signal, and 74% of the export volume is concentrated in the three weeks before the Chinese New Year, and the price is relatively stable." Soler said, "The Chinese mainland market The consumption of cherries is concentrated in the period before the Spring Festival, so next, we will open up new consumption occasions."

• The production of cherries has further increased, and the future may face more challenges

Soler said that the increase in the production and export of cherries will be one of the main challenges for the industry in the future. "It is estimated that by the 2026/27 season, the production of Chilean cherries will reach 812,717 tons, of which over 682,682 tons will be exported, which means that we must be fully prepared. It is estimated that we will need to handle 6,800 containers during the peak export week, which will 3,000 shipping lanes are needed."

"In the 2026/27 season, we will increase the production of Santina, which will become our main export variety, surpassing Lapins." Soler also said, "Higher fruit production also requires us to have more fruit. workers, and a stronger Agricultural and Livestock Administration (SAG) with more human and economic resources to ensure that the inspection and certification of the public goes smoothly. In addition, it is also very important to further strengthen our promotion activities in China and other markets important, of course, ensuring and improving the quality of cherries is the key."

Another big challenge is logistics, the industry's ability to handle more fruit for export, "although we managed to handle a large number of containers in the 2022/23 season, such as in the peak week, we handled more than 5,000 containers", Soler said.

Achieving growth in exports to Asian markets is also a challenge, Soler added, because to achieve this, the industry has to improve in different ways. For example, in South Korea, logistics problems may cause fruit to take longer to reach the shelves, which will cause consumers to miss the best fruit consumption period, and also face strong competition from strawberries; talking about Thailand, that is, Chilean cherries are the most popular in Asia. "We must work hard on fruit quality"; in Vietnam, the biggest challenge is to increase fruit transportation capacity, "we can transport by land or sea and air between China and Vietnam"; India is the 16th largest destination market for Chilean cherries In the large destination market, "we must work hard to guide consumers, and strive to develop sea-air transport in terms of logistics. In addition, we need a more comprehensive cold chain."