Although China is the market par excellence for cherries, the trans-Andean industry has been building an export variation plan for the past few years, with the United States and Europe also being the main recipients of the 7,000 tons of this fruit produced annually.
In Argentina, the cherry season is slowly beginning to take shape with the first green tips appearing in some orchards in Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza. The Argentines are looking forward to what is coming and, unlike Chilean producers, are taking this process more calmly, which is clearly related to the size of their cherry industry. While Argentina exports 7,000 tons per year, Chile exports 356,000, of which nearly 90 percent is destined for China.
Although there is some pressure on the other side of the mountain range due to the "early" Chinese New Year, the industry has opted years ago to diversify its markets, with the United States and the Asian giant as its main buyers, but keeping Europe very close in third place.
“Last season, the main export market was the US, not China. The main export market to Asia is the early fruit, especially from the provinces of Río Negro and Neuquén. Afterwards, everything from southern Patagonia is destined for other markets,” highlighted Aníbal Caminiti, Manager of the Argentine Chamber of Integrated Cherry Producers (CAPCI) in conversation with Smartcherry. “We have 351 TP3T of exports destined for North America, 351 TP3T for China, 221 TP3T for Europe and 6 or 71 TP3T for the Middle East market,” he added.
The portfolio and the working model are typical of the Argentine industry. In fact, in recent years they have begun to open new markets. “To cope with this and, anticipating what could happen with the Chinese (early New Year, in addition to logistical problems), we have increased our participation in other markets: in Singapore we increased our coverage by 40% in the last season, while in the United Arab Emirates by 42%. Our logic is to work in China, but without neglecting other markets,” Caminiti confessed.
“I think the Chinese market is still very important, arriving with good quality fruit," added Alejandro Zimmermann, President of CAPCI, while analyzing the projections for this season.
Chinese New Year “early”
Although the Argentine industry has and is seeking new export destinations, one event that marks the world of cherries is the Chinese New Year, even for the trans-Andean countries that export only 35 percent of their production to the Asian giant. “This season is an issue, we are trying to get out earlier. At the moment, the winter has helped us. If we had had a warm winter, we would not have arrived earlier. We are working with all the air logistics, since the space in this medium is not the same as it was 3 years ago before the pandemic. We have to work and organize ourselves together a little more to reach the destinations as soon as possible, also trying to make some sea shipments,” Zimmermann said.
From the other side of the Andes, they hope that this season will change from the previous one, when the warm winter played a bad trick on early fruit, which makes up almost 70% of production. This year, the situation is similar to that in Chile. “The buds are already very marked and in very good condition. We hope that with the winter we had, the dormancy applications and the recommended cold hours, we can go out earlier. The issue is to go out earlier, but with quality fruit, and thus meet the markets that we all know about,” concluded the President of the Association of Producers.
