by Tad Thompson
04/15/2005
Sometimes those issues that seem to be a problem turn out just fine. So it has gone for those in the Chilean fruit business this year.
Rain early in the season harmed the cherry harvest, and for grapes and other items, it reduced export levels through the season?s first couple of months. The industry began to rebound in February, and has come on so strongly that this will become a record year for Chilean export volumes to the United States, Tom Tjerandsen, managing director of the Chilean Fresh Fruit Association in Sacramento, CA, told The Produce News April 11.
?There was a lot of conjecture early on that there was no way to make up for lost shipments early in the season." Mr. Tjerandsen noted that "cold weather made the grape harvest late and weather problems affected the early cherry harvest," so the season started a couple million boxes behind record pace.
?But we?re going to have another record year for shipping to the U.S. from Chile," he said. The late success has come despite the fact that "importers have to bid against a strong euro. It is easier for the Chileans to ship to Europe because of the strong currency. In spite of that, [North American] retailers have found shoppers to be willing and interested." These retailers "are not at all reluctant to order this year because the fruit quality is exceptional, including stone fruit, which they usually grouse about. This year the stone fruit was really fine quality. The stone fruit, all agree, has been exceptionally high quality this year. It has been a good year for shippers."
Mr. Tjerandsen said that the CFFA "has a new [point-of-sale] package this year, full of proven-effective sales materials that retailers have really embraced and used aggressively. This has helped move additional volume." While Chilean fruit is regarded in the trade as a product that has saturated the North American market, he said, "the fruit is still a high-impulse purchase. For some people it is still somewhat of a startling concept to have grapes, peaches and plums in the winter. Point-of-sale materials help call this to their attention."
