The first maritime shipment of Chilean blueberries arrives in Shanghai

On November 12, the first container of Chilean blueberries this season arrived in Shanghai, arriving in China by sea. This shipment of Giddings blueberries was imported by Pengsheng Industrial, one of China's leading blueberry importers, which has so far imported and sold over 100 containers of blueberries this season. The arrival of this batch marks the end of Giddings air shipments and the start of ocean shipments to meet Chinese consumer demand for Chilean blueberries.

The two companies have been operating a business model that aims to use air freight to position the brand among Chinese consumers until ocean shipments hit the market. Until now, fruit that arrived by air was mainly sold at premium outlets such as Olé, City'super and Rain Dew at prices of up to Chinese yuan 35 per box.

Imported Giddings blueberries on display at Olé (left), Rain Dew (center) and City'super (right) stores.

According to Sebastian Deng, partner at Pengsheng Industrial in Shanghai, “Pengsheng and Giddings have been working together for many years. Our relationship has been strengthened and our business has come together on a path of mutual trust and mutual development. This year we carried out several weeks of air shipments from Giddings with excellent results, representing the first Chilean program by air this season, until today when we receive our first sea container ”.

The Giddings blueberry package was a specialty variety originally from Australia that is characterized by large size and sweet taste. According to Gonzalo Matamala, Giddings Fruit General Manager for Asia and China, “We believe that the fruit will receive positive feedback in the market due to its taste. In addition, we have begun to see an upward trend in blueberry prices in the Chinese market, due to lower volumes, so this fruit has arrived at the perfect time ”.

Zoe Zhu from Giddings Fruit's Shanghai office and Kida from Pensheng Industrial.

The situation of blueberries in the market currently shows favorable signs of recovery compared to previous weeks, which registered unusually low prices due to the large volume of fruit from Peru and the unsatisfactory sweetness, especially before the shopping day on 11.11, which allowed that existing fruit stocks clear up with a positive impact on market prices.

Gonzalo Matamala, CEO of Giddings Fruit for Asia and China, and Di Peng and Sebastian Deng, partners at Pengsheng Industrial.

Although the United States continues to be the main destination market for Chilean blueberry exporters, last season Asia and Europe showed growth of 20% and 8%, respectively. As a result, Chilean exporters hope to diversify their exports and Asian markets represent an increasingly attractive destination for premium fruits such as blueberries. Forecasts for the current season indicate that Chilean blueberry production will see a slight increase in volume of approximately 2% compared to last season, with an expected total of 155.000 tons.

With regards to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Chilean exporters have worked closely with Chilean and Chinese authorities to establish strict safety protocols to protect workers in orchards, packing houses and offices and to ensure that fruit packaging are free of traces of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In this regard, it is important to note that since the beginning of the pandemic, no trace of the virus has been detected in fruits exported from Chile. According to Matamala, "customers in China can trust that we are implementing comprehensive efforts to bring the safest fruits to their homes."

One such measure taken by Pengsheng and Giddings to ensure quality from source to destination has been to provide masks to their vendors in local markets.

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