A month-long dock workers strike at Valparaiso, Chile’s largest port, ended a few days before Christmas giving fruit shippers the present they wanted for the holidays.
Karen Brux, managing director of the Chilean Fresh Fruit Association’s North America promotional effort, told The Produce News that the strike, which lasted for 35 days, resulted in “some supply hiccups” during the early part of the season. However, she did note that shippers were resourceful and rerouted shipments through the port of San Antonio in an effort to meet commitments. She reported that in December, fruit shipments from Valparaiso were down 90 percent while San Antonio registered a tenfold increase. Typically, Valparaiso handles more than 50 percent of all fruit exported from Chile.
An agreement was reached and signed on Friday, Dec. 21, with dockworkers back on the job before the end of that day.
Brux said fruit shipments from Chile to the United States should be strong moving forward. In January, she said, Chile will “have grapes, stone fruit, cherries and blueberries in the market, but January is biggest for cherries and blueberries.”
She then went on to give a crop-by-crop assessment of the supply situation, relaying information from some leaders in the industry. Andrés Armstrong, executive director of the Chilean Blueberry Committee, said early season issues have created challenges but exporters have risen to the occasion. "The effects of the hailstorm (in November) and the climate somewhat delayed the ripening and the harvest of fruits, but we’ve exported about nine percent more fruit compared to the same date last year," he reported in mid-December.
Armstrong expected a smoother harvest moving forward. “The focus right now is in the central south zone, mainly VII Region. The north zone is in the final stage of its season, while the central north zone shows decreasing volumes. The south zone is starting but still with very low volumes,” he said.
Chile has cultivated customers throughout the world for its ever-increasing blueberry production. Through mid-December, Brux reported that a total of 17,100 tons had been exported, with the majority of this (66 percent) sent to North America. Europe and buyers in the Far East took the rest of the production.
Brux said the demand for organic blueberries continues to grow and the Chilean Fresh Fruit Association is continuing to promote organic supply from Chile at industry events in the United States. “Retail promotions for conventional and organic blueberries, including everything from digital coupons to cooking classes to demos and sales/display contests, will run from January through March,” she said.
Chile will also be telling its story through social media. New for this season, Brux revealed that the Chilean Blueberry Committee would be producing a series of consumer and trade videos in Chile. The videos, which will be available beginning in February, will attempt to “tell the story of Chilean blueberries and bring the country, orchards and growers to life,” she said.
Cherry exports were just getting under way as Brux spoke with The Produce News in late-December. Heading toward Christmas week only about 5 percent of the expected total cherry exports from Chile had been sent to North America. While January will be a much bigger month for cherry exports, China continued to be the main buyer of that crop. Brux said a majority of the total cherry volume would be sent to that market. As such, in the United States, CFFA will run a few retail promotions but the main focus of the North American promotional effort will be through social media.
Though Chilean grape shipments to the United States will be robust, Brux said industry leaders are “estimating a year-on-year drop of around 2 percent in part due to the varietal reconversion taking place.”
She added that the hailstorm in November is also taking its toll on overall volume. “The good news surrounding varieties is that Chile is rapidly moving away from varieties no longer in demand by the U.S. market,” she said. “Chilean growers are producing increased volumes of larger, sweeter, juicier seedless grape varieties — like Timco and Allison — to meet the changing needs of this market.”
Another factor facing Chilean growers this year is the state of the U.S. market. Reports show that there were more U.S. grapes in storage this year than in past seasons and Peru is also increasing the volume of grapes it is sending to the U.S. market by a significant percentage. Reports note that Peru is estimating production of 340,000 tons of table grapes this season, which is about 30 percent greater than the 2017-18 harvest.
But Chile will be promoting its volume aggressively in the marketplace. “Our three merchandisers are in the process of finalizing promotional programs with everyone from single stores to regional chains to national chains,” Brux said. “In terms of driving sales, digital coupons and in-store demos continue to be retailers’ preferred promotional vehicles, but the Chilean Fresh Fruit Association can work with retailers to develop custom programs.”
