With almost two and a half years operating in Chile and more than 42 years since it started with its first nurseries, Fall Creek® has become a strategic partner for companies dedicated to the production and export of berries worldwide. Its experience allows it to constantly innovate in its nurseries and research centers, understanding that each territory has its own reality, and contributing genetics for the success of its clients.

Today, the consumer experience, the associated well-being and quality of life are concepts that are firmly established in an increasingly competitive industry, which understands that the process culminates with the purchasing behavior of a fresh fruit consumer who seeks to repeat the experience if it was satisfactory.

Blueberries Consulting spoke with its manager in Chile, Ernesto Pino, an executive with vast experience and who knows the national market well. His approach to the world of berries began in 2008 when, together with a group of friends, he was invited to be part of Vital Berry. However, he admits that “the world of nursery and genetics was something absolutely new for me.” As 2022 progressed, while many players tried to get out of the business, Fall Creek called him to open a subsidiary in Chile for the production and distribution of its genetics. “The national industry at that time was visualizing the disappearance of blueberry production, a product of the growth of the tropics, Mexico, Peru, and now Morocco. However, I was quickly convinced because what they were looking for was to consolidate a new genetics suitable for Chile,” says Pino.

From that commitment in 2022 to today, 2024, how have these challenges you took on been revealed?

The first was to install a megaproject from the point of view of infrastructure and technology that was not known in Chile.

Then the issue of training and finding the right people came up, because the type of nursery and the type of production that Fall Creek® has is different from what is done in Chile. So, that was the next challenge. And during that process, much of this conviction that I had to have to get on this project, had to be transmitted to the clients. There we realized that it was not only about a varietal renewal, but also about the actors, who have become convinced that it is a good business and are entering with force.

This renewal you're talking about, at what level is it taking place?

The pandemic created a kind of very specific status quo, which forced people to reinvent themselves, to consider how to achieve an activity that would allow the company and its environment to be sustainable, in a new logistics scenario, with a change in consumption habits and, at the same time, to live up to what the final consumer of fresh fruit expects. It is no longer about eating to survive, today it is about eating to be healthy and well. New or growing companies in the business are backed by investment funds, which are looking for profitability in the medium term or even in the short term, and the opportunities are being given to them by this new genetics that allows them to differentiate themselves. Those who have not had that vision have lost out, but others have taken it.

Genetics need time to see the first results. At what stage is Fall Creek in Chile?

The process of releasing genetics within the company includes a stage of testing varieties in experimental stations, in order to provide security to customers. The varieties that are superior in firmness, size, productivity, precocity, and flavor, are now being observed to adapt to the various regions of central and southern Chile, taking into account all the particular climatic, water and soil factors.

The Chilean Blueberry Committee has collaborated a lot in this, and they wanted to test them and accelerate this adoption process, so we are very close to having certainty about which ones are the best in each region and how.

Mechanized harvesting for berries is a growing challenge today. How are you addressing it at Fall Creek®?

The mechanical harvesting of fresh fruit began as a concern several years ago, and the search began for the characteristic of firmness and resistance after harvesting in order to find genetics that would allow this process for fresh consumption. The great challenge was how to harvest with a machine without the unripe fruit falling off. In addition, today there is the need to be able to travel at least 30 days for consumption. We have a first prototype, which is an advanced selection, which allows that in a concentrated period of 10 days, the first fruit that ripens remains very firm on the plant until the last one, which allows all these fruits to be harvested in one go and in a mechanical way.
On the other hand, Fall Creek® has invested in a Dutch technology development company called Finefield, with the aim of improving mechanized harvesting technology more quickly and in line with the genetics we are developing for this purpose.

At the Latin American level, how do you see the opportunities for Chilean blueberries compared to those of other producing countries?

The fruit industry has many business alternatives. The fruit entrepreneur is always evaluating what alternatives he has to make his business profitable and hopefully diversify and not be a single product. So we go from being a grape producer to a producer of grapes, cherries, blueberries, hazelnuts, depending on the area where you are. Then the second derivative appears: being a global exporter.

So, along with producing blueberries in Chile, I also produce blueberries in Peru, Mexico, Portugal, and now in Morocco. The national industry has been quite the precursor to global blueberry companies.

Chile has a special characteristic, which is its climate, and that is where our role lies within the value chain. It is a cold climate, and the varieties that work in Chile do not work in Peru. Little by little, producers and exporters are understanding this.
The varieties grown from Maule to the south are mainly varieties that need cold, which allows them not only to grow and bear fruit, but also to have flavor. So, when you eat a Chilean blueberry, you eat a fruit that has a sweet/acid balance very different from that of Mexican or Peruvian blueberries. And that is the seal of quality that the Chilean blueberry will have in the short term.

You just came back from Fruit Attraction. What do you bring back from the 2024 experience?

I think that Latin America was one of the most visited pavilions, and one of the most repeated themes in the conversations is precisely what genetic development is causing in consumption and that, technically, is transformed into buying a bunch of grapes, you like it a lot and you buy it again. This is how genetic development generates an increase in consumption, satisfaction, an experience of eating healthy and delicious. This trend is here to stay, and all the actors in the industry must remember it.