Several Chilean companies participated in the recent Cherry Day, an event organized by the Argentine Chamber of Integrated Cherry Producers, CAPCI, which took place in person in Chimpay, Argentine Patagonia. At the same time, subsidiaries of our partners were present; we spoke with them and they told us about the relevance of this type of event.
Unitec, an international group specialising in the design and implementation of innovative solutions for the processing, grading, quality classification and packaging of fresh fruit and vegetables, was one of our partners that was present at Cherry Day through representatives from Chile and Argentina.

«We, as Unitec, have been participating in Cherry Day since its inception. It is a very interesting event. The main players in the cherry industry in Argentina are there. We have seen many of our clients, we are in contact to understand their needs and, at the same time, we are willing to provide all the support they need in order to automate the processes, which today is the most important thing that the industry requires. Minimizing labor, under current conditions, is crucial to having a good quality product, competing with the most successful markets, such as Chile or Australia, and having an important position in the market with quality fruit.", explained German Bastías, Project Sales Manager Unitec Chile.
Another of Smartcherry's partners that participated in the important event was Agralia, a Chilean company that has been offering cover services for Argentine agriculture for several years: «We are present in Argentina from Concordia with covers for blueberries to Chimpay and Neuquén with covers for cherry trees; we have been in Argentina for 4 years and with excellent results, with very good companies, large and small. In Mendoza we have a fairly large project, with fresh fruit and this year we are covering their orchard again and they have noticed the advance in their harvest in the different varieties.", explained Pablo Salazar, Commercial Director of Agralia Chile, who also highlighted the importance of Cherry Day: "This event is truly very important both for us as a company and for producers who can see what can really be done with technology to produce good fruit."«.


Another of Smarcherry's partners that was present is Voen, present in Argentina with its self-ventilated covers and dual protection against hail and rain for more than 4 years: «What Voen is doing here is starting to develop the business. I found the event to be great, because not only have I learned technical things, but I have also had the opportunity to meet with many farmers that I didn't know and also with others that I did, and exchange ideas and see what they are thinking about their production and how important the use of covers is for them. Of course, in these areas the use of our covers makes a lot of sense because they achieve this resistance to these windier climates,» explained Roberto Johow Voen, Voen Representative for South America.
Also present were our partners Aminochem, Basf, Compo Expert, Stoller, SummitAgro, through their subsidiaries in Argentina.
Emiliano Castilla, Technical and Commercial Advisor at Aminochem, explained the reasons why it is important to participate in this type of event: «We were at Cherry Day because we sell marine fertilizers. It is a Chilean company, Aminochem, and we have many clients in the cherry area who use our products, so it was very important for us to be at this event.»
Basf Argentina also highlighted the importance of being part of “Cherry Day”: «Basf has several products for cherries, among them we have recently registered Versys and we also have the registration of Nealta which is our new acaricide, in addition we sponsor the event and support this crop that is in regional growth: this year was a very productive approach, so the technical part could be used much more.«said Michay Mantegna, RTV and DTM Patagonia Basf Argentina region.
Compo Expert Argentina was another company that was present at the event organized by CAPCI, with its products for cherry production. "It is a very interesting event because it creates an environment for exchanging information, where in this case Compo has a lot to offer, especially in the area of foliar fertilization and biostimulants, which is what we have been seeing in growth year after year; we believe that it is a very interesting niche and a crop that has been growing and that it is very good to be present," added Enrique Cirolini, Technical Commercial Advisor at Compo Expert Argentina.

Claudia Mamani, Regional Technical Coordinator for Stoller Argentina in Cuyo, also spoke about this: «For us it is very important because it is one of the few exchange events that there are so far. I think that after the pandemic the topic of personal exchange was cut off a bit and it is very necessary, people value it a lot and it is good to be part of this whole cherry movement that is growing and has a lot of projection. At Stoller we have foliar products, many based on hormones and also some products that are for fertigation; mainly what we have is a recommendation, a proposal in which we are attacking different points of the cherry phenology, with the idea of generating better production, higher quality, higher yield from the beginning of the crop to reach a good end.«.

Smartcherry also spoke with Fernando Muretti, Regional Manager of Intensive Crops SummitAgro Argentina: «We are supporting the world of cherries, which is becoming increasingly stronger in Argentina, luckily, and we have some specific products and we are part of this event as well. This exchange is very good and I think it is the first event after the pandemic that brings us together again, so it is a very good initiative by the Chamber and very nice to carry it forward», he emphasized.
Nurseries and Packaging

The Agromillora Sur nursery is another Chilean company that has been working for several years with CAPCI in the Argentine cherry industry. Antonio Fuentes, from the southern region of the entity and who was present at Cherry Day, referred to the recent export they made to the neighboring country: «We have been working with CAPCI for quite some time, we have been approaching them for 4 or 5 years and that ended with the first import of rootstocks from Chile, making SAG and Senasa work together; for this first import with two clients who were very satisfied to date and most likely the growth in southern Argentina will be based on rootstocks brought from Chile.»

Regarding packaging, San Jorge Packaging, a pioneering company in the development of modified atmosphere technology, was present. Álvaro Campos, Commercial Executive, highlighted the relevance of the event organized by the Argentine Chamber of Integrated Cherry Producers: «It is very important to participate in Cherry Day, to accompany friends from Argentina, to give them the technological solution to be able to export their fresh cherries to any place in the world and so they can also reduce logistics costs, especially now that everything is very complicated, we help the fruit to arrive fresh and without any problem to its destination.", concluded San Jorge Packaging, a Chilean company that has been offering its services to the Argentine cherry industry for four seasons now.