It is no mystery to anyone that Chilean cherries have become the favorite fruit of Chinese consumers, not only because of their sweet flavor and quality, but also because their rounded shape and red color are, in that culture, signs of prosperity and good fortune; for this reason, cherries have become the perfect gift for celebrations around the Chinese New Year, which this year was celebrated on February 10.
«We are very optimistic about this 2023-2024 season. The condition and quality of our fruit has been good, since producers and exporters know the importance of quality for the sustainable development of the industry in the future, and for this reason, in the early varieties, which were more affected by the rains in spring, but did not suffer damage, air shipments were privileged, thus ensuring the condition of the fruit. So far we have managed to export significant volumes, especially to China, the main destination for our cherries, where we have so far exported 373,484 tons, showing a growth of 2,54% compared to the same period last season, which marks a record volume and whose consumption we are encouraging as a Committee with various promotional actions at the retail level, social networks, wholesale markets, in addition to contests, » said Claudia Soler, executive director of the Chilean Fruit Cherry Committee.
He added: “We have decided to strengthen our marketing efforts during the first 10 days of February in order to stimulate a rapid turnover of our fruit during that period.” He also highlighted “The efforts we have made as a committee to open new ports of entry for our cherries. Such is the case of the port of Tianjin, with which we began to coordinate this possibility during the visit we made in 2023, and which allows us to directly reach the entire northern area of China, mainly all of Beijing and its surroundings, with fruit of excellent quality and condition. This port is very close to the Gaobeidian Wholesale Market, which is currently one of the largest wholesale markets for premium fruit in northern China, a market that has enormous potential for our cherries and is very interested in developing the category.”
Regarding total exports to the world, the professional said that "The volumes are around 410 thousand tons, which represents a slight decrease of 1.3% compared to what was sent in the period of the previous campaign. All of which makes us think that, so far, this season will be -in general- the second campaign with the highest volumes of Chilean cherry exports."
Regarding destinations, Soler commented that 941 TP3T of exports have been sent to Asian markets, followed by the United States (31 TP3T), Latin America (21 TP3T) and with around 11 TP3T to Europe, Canada and the Middle East.
Consumption and Promotions
Regarding consumption, the Executive Director of the Committee pointed out: «So far, and also during our recent visit to the markets of China, Taiwan and Korea, we have seen a very good reception from consumers for our cherries, which is repeated in all our destination markets. The fruit is rotating well.»
Regarding promotions, the professional recalled that a three-year strategy was developed this season, "which will be a kind of roadmap to deal with the increases in production and exports that are expected in the future."
He added: «With this strategy, in addition to preparing for the volume increases expected in the future, we seek to give greater continuity and focus to the campaign. For this reason, we identified 24 cities as a geographic focus, which were segmented into three groups, according to the objective pursued in each one. Likewise, the target group to which the campaign is directed was segmented. This segmentation, initially, has three target groups, identifying in each of them the needs and consumption habits, based on the stage of life in which each one is found.»
Finally, he commented that the promotional program includes activities on social networks and work with Key Opinion Leaders (KOL), promotions with the main e-commerce platforms, press monitoring, activations in retailers, fruit stores and wholesale markets, with the delivery of promotional material and tastings, among other activities.
