Sebastián Domínguez, Utilitas executive: "I believe that privileged windows for Chile will no longer exist"
"In the United States work to have late varieties and fruit guards to cover what most that window can".
As a result of last season, the Chilean Blueberry Committee declared that it had left "a bittersweet taste", because despite having increased the volume of exports by 12,9%, Chilean blueberries were hit hard by a Remarkable fall in prices internationally, due - among other reasons - to the increase in the supply of other origins and due to fruit condition problems.
Chile exported 103.144 tonnes, broken down into more than 67.000 ton to North America (United States and Canada), 22.600 ton to Europe (England and Germany) and 12.500 ton to Asia (China and South Korea), which exceeded the projected by the Committee at the beginning of the season. One of the reasons for this increase was the growth of the area planted and the renewal of varieties by those with higher productivity.
Andrés Armstrong, executive director of the Committee of Cranberries of Chile, commented at the time that another reason was "the low price of frozen products, which pressured the increase in the volume of fresh, both in conventional and organic, but especially the organic ones that until last season found better price conditions in the frozen market".
The advance of up to four weeks at the start of the peak weeks experienced by the 2016 / 2017 season was an unprecedented event, and according to Armstrong left them with an unpleasant feeling.
"We were not able to predict and alert this situation that impacted the harvest, packaging and logistics processes. On the other hand, we find increasing volumes coming from Mexico and mainly Peru. All this caused the generation of stocks without the necessary speed of movement, pushing prices down"He said.
This growing supply from other countries was felt strongly, which was evident not only in the increase in the weekly supply and its impact on the commercial conditions, but also in the arrival condition of the national fruit compared to the foreign one. .
"There was an important growth of the offer of Peru whose peak of arrivals coincided with the beginning of the peak weeks of Chile"Armstrong explained.
Based on the phenomenology of last season, we spoke with Sebastián Domínguez, executive of the consultancy Utilitas, regarding the perspectives of the 2017 / 2018 season.
- The early harvest season is still so privileged regarding the values of the fruit?
I believe that privileged windows for Chile will no longer exist. The early window of the southern hemisphere is covering it with increasingly important volumes in Peru, as well as in the United States working to have late varieties and fruit guards in order to cover what most of that window can cover.
Chile has historically developed early harvest seasons, which has allowed it to take advantage of the commercial windows profit practically without competition, reaching to cover the 90% of the demand in previous years.
- What should be done to recover this competitiveness?
You have to work, by market and only send good fruit and the fruit requested by each market, for example China, wants calibrated fruit (even clamshell in size 14 to 16mm, 16 to 18mm, 18 UP). Firm fruit, good flavor and bloom.
Sebastián Domínguez predicts that in this season the window will be very early and that at the beginning of October there could be a significant differential in prices, then important volumes will be seen from the southern hemisphere, normalizing the market.
Source: Martín Carrillo O. - Blueberries Consulting
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