After a challenging season for Chilean cherries, industry experts are doing the math, analyzing points for improvement, and evaluating strategies to ensure the success of the country's most important fruit industry.

Representatives of the International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA) in Chile organized their traditional breakfast on May 28 with industry members to review and analyze the action plan for fruit exports.

During a presentation by Prize's commercial manager, Rodrigo Estévez, three key areas were covered: the relevance of cherries to Chile, the current outlook and main statistics, and strategies for addressing future challenges.

In this context, Estévez pointed out that cherry is the most widely planted species in the country, with 70,000 hectares, according to official figures. However, taking the growth figure of 5,500 hectares per year, the real estimate would be around 82,000 hectares planted, according to the commercial manager.

“In addition, in terms of FOB sales, Chilean fruit farming is around 7 billion dollars, and cherries contribute a little more than 3 billion of that value, that is, more than 40% of the sales of our industry, which shows its value,” said Estévez.

He also referred to the jobs coming from the cherry industry, which is around 200,000, a third of the total of 600,000 provided by fruit growing in the country. In the global context, Chile accounts for 97% of cherry exports from the Southern Hemisphere. Last year alone, the country's exports grew by 52%, reaching 135 million boxes.

Far behind are Argentina, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa, with a 3% share of the total.

Estévez also emphasized the importance of cherries for industries related to the fruit trade, including land and sea transport, ports, shipping, harvesting, and packing, all of which have undergone significant evolution in the last decade.

“There are very powerful industries behind cherries that we have to take care of,” the expert said.

Current outlook for cherries

Regarding the potential for cherries in the northern hemisphere, where an estimated 85% of the world's population lives, Estévez said that the concentration of Chilean fruit shipments remains a problem, especially considering that in 2024, Chile exported 57% of all cherries exported in the world.

A recurring point is trade diversification, considering that 88% of shipments are concentrated in China and Hong Kong.

“The United States and South Korea are the two countries that follow China in terms of imports, with 3% and 1% respectively,” Estévez said. “However, to significantly increase volumes to these markets, we have to do extensive work, especially in extending seasons and quality.”

Mexico was raised as an interesting market, with more than 100 million inhabitants, as well as Vietnam, which receives cherries from China.

Thailand and Latin American markets were also mentioned as potential destinations of interest for Chilean fruit, particularly Brazil, where efforts are being made to promote the fruit after Christmas.

“We have the logistics to reach markets such as Mexico and Brazil, but the challenge is in phytosanitary, and we must do the work to comply with protocols and manage to diversify our destination markets,” Estévez said.

India

One of the most talked-about markets during the discussion on market diversification is India. With 1,400 million inhabitants, it is considered a destination to be explored for exports.

In this respect, Estévez assured that “we are making an effort, at Prize we opened an office in India last year and we are trying to understand how to grow in India, but it is not easy. First, we have a logistic barrier, because with a transit time of 45-50 days, the cherry is not going to arrive in perfect conditions for a premium product”.

In addition to this, we also need to make progress in the country's internal infrastructure, as many times the fruit is transported in non-refrigerated trucks, and the quality of the cold storage facilities is not optimal for products like cherries.

“The answer is that today we have to work hard to make India an important alternative for Chile,” said Estévez.

Varietal turnover

In the Chilean industry, there is still a varietal concentration, since 82% of the volume is represented by Lapins, Santina and Regina.

“We have seen how in other species, new genetics are achieving changes, so we have to manage and think more about the future, about what the varieties and new genetics are going to be in eight or ten years, since the participation of new varieties is still low,” said Estévez.

It is expected that in the coming years, Santina will become the most exported variety, above Lapins.

As for the new early varieties, Estévez said that in two more seasons, they could have a share of about 3%, growing from 5,300 tons to 12,800 tons and then to 22,000 tons.

Lessons from last season

To discuss the industry's challenges, Estevez first analyzed the lessons from the challenging 2024-25 season.

“One of the lessons was that China's demand is not infinite, it does have a ceiling, because they ate all the fruit that came in, but prices dropped more than 30%. Therefore, the basic law of supply and demand also works in China,” said Estevez.

In addition, quality and condition cannot be compromised, and although “we have been talking about it for 30 years, for some reason, we still do not have it 100% assimilated, and we fall into the temptation of putting in more and more volume without focusing on quality”.

In the past, this lower quality fruit was more accepted, but with an increasingly empowered consumer, they no longer have a margin of acceptance.

Conclusions and objectives

As has been said so much in recent times, Estévez emphasized the importance of taste and fruit quality. Meeting expectations is the only way for consumers to repeat a purchase and value a premium product.

“The Chinese consumer likes sweet fruit, so we have to have that focus,” he said. “We have to be self-critical and accept that sometimes fruit arrives that doesn't taste good, and that makes them see it and affects consumer confidence,” he added.

“Finally, let's remember that we cannot give up on trade diversification, we have to continue developing new markets such as the United States, Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America,” he concluded.

Related article: President of the Chilean Cherry Committee: “We have a duty to restore the importance of cherries to Chile”