A hectic season
Although the results were lower than those expected at the beginning, the last season left quite satisfied to the producers of national blueberries. After all, the shipments exceeded the 91 thousand tons, a figure slightly lower than that achieved last season.
This result was related, to a great extent, with the effects caused by the rainy spring, which meant that a lot of fruit was affected its quality. This, in turn, caused the season to be delayed and that many of the originally scheduled shipments should be rescheduled.
"Many exporters found low quality fruit, which did not meet the characteristics to be exported to distant markets. For this reason, they preferred to send it to a closer destination such as the United States, which is located at 12-13 days, versus Europe and China, which are much further away ", explains Manuel Alcaíno, president of Decofrut.
On the other hand, the good price of the dollar against other currencies was also an incentive for exporters to choose to send a large part of their fruit to the United States.
"Exporters were looking for markets where the US currency was the main transaction currency", says Andrés Armstrong, manager of the Blueberry Committee.
Fortunately for exporters, the increase in supply in the northern country did not influence prices too much, which were similar to last year's, averaging
US $ 8,7 / kg. Different situation is that which occurred in Europe, where the lower volumes caused prices to remain higher than in the previous season. In fact, the average value for this season reached EUR 9,8 / kg, 6% higher than 2014 / 2015.
"Despite this, this was not enough to fully compensate for the lower volume shipped"adds Gabriel Layseca, market analyst at iQonsulting.
In China, meanwhile, the average price in the last season reached US $ 19,5 / kg, a figure that reached to compensate for the lower volume sent.
The change of scenery
But these days in the sector not only analyze what happened in the last season, but also pay attention to the signals that for some time emanate from international markets and that are related to the need to market only high quality fruit .
"Before, you could reach the markets with fruit that was not in the best condition and it was still sold, because the volumes were not enough. Today, however, the need for the fruit to arrive in optimal conditions is paramount"says Andrés Armstrong.
According to figures that are handled in the sector, Chile currently has a potential that allows it to easily export 110.000 tons, thanks to the fact that it has almost 20.000 hectares in production. The problem, they say, is that a significant percentage of that figure corresponds to fruit that does not meet the requirements of the markets, in terms of size (minimum 12 mm) and firmness.
"I think that the third third of the Chilean harvest, which corresponds to around 10% of the total volume, presents quality problems, since it lacks dry matter and solidity. Thus, it often does not reach markets well. Therefore, I think that fruit should not be exported ", indicates Manuel Alcaíno.
The Decofrut president's idea is for this remainder to be sent to the frozen food industry, which in his opinion would allow the local industry to have a much stronger and better quality offer for the fresh market.
“It should not be forgotten that in the settlement that is sent to the producers, the exporters incorporate all those problems that occurred at destination, including rejections. For the same reason, if we manage to reduce or eliminate these problems, the settlements will improve a lot”, he adds.
Source: El Mercurio
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