Following the CNY (Chinese New Year) celebrations, when Chilean cherries take centre stage, 2,500-3,000 containers of fruit remained unsold; in addition, 3,000 are on the way.
There have been several factors that have impacted the sales volumes of Chilean cherries in China, our main market, in 2022. On the one hand, the Chinese New Year was celebrated two weeks earlier than in 2021, and on the other, a series of logistical problems have caused delays in shipments and transport times.
Prior to the New Year, sales increased in terms of volumes, however, due to the current movement restrictions in China, it was impossible to reach certain markets in the last few days, important dates in terms of cherry sales. As a result, a significant amount of fruit remained unsold, although the outlook was more auspicious than expected.
“The amount of fruit left to sell after the Chinese New Year is a relatively large volume, but probably a little lower than expected, but close to 2,500 - 3,000 containers of older fruit, plus everything that is coming, which was known to arrive after the holiday, which gives a total of about 7,000 containers,” said Victor Maroto, Commercial Manager of Fruttita, who is also Director of the Cherry Committee of Asoex and member of the Executive Board and the Quality Committee of the same association.
To date, Chile has exported more than 348 thousand tons of cherries, of which 309,598 go to China, equivalent to 89 percent of the total. The season in terms of harvest has already ended, however, in terms of trade, there is still a great challenge ahead.
“I think it helps us a lot to know that consumers are still active, so having an active market helps us move volume; we have the Lantern Festival that is celebrated in February, also on February 14th, which is another time to sell fruit, and there are the Olympics, where the Asoex campaign seeks, in some way, to show that cherries are a healthy product. We are also supporting the consumption of fresh cherry fruit, so there are many points that could help us move fruit,” Maroto added.
The market is currently slow, which could be considered normal after the Chinese New Year and should regularize over time.
“In terms of prices, I think that the market has behaved much better than last year. Today, the Covid effect mainly affected certain restrictions on selling imported fruit in some cities, rather than the final consumer, as last year, when the concept of gift was lost. This year, fruit continued to be used as a gift and that is why we were able to see that a couple of days before the Chinese New Year we had sales of 200-300 containers in the area. Guangzhou, therefore in terms of sales, prices and market movement it went better, now again the biggest problem was logistics, that affected the condition of the fruit, we have fruit that can be 40 days old or more, warned the Commercial Manager of Fruttita.
The condition of the fruit is currently the biggest problem, as current reports show a complex mix: falling prices and low or no sales of pallets depending on the variety, which could break the cold chain and thus the quality of the cherries could be seriously affected.
Time is money: what is yet to come
Normally, a “Cherry Express” service takes 23-25 days from Chile to China, however, delays of between 5-6 days have been recorded in both national and Asian ports during the current campaign, which has increased the total travel time to 33-35 days. Added to this are customs procedures, phytosanitary and Covid-19 inspections, etc.
“Logistics can affect us a little in the final price, but that will depend a lot on the condition of the fruit, which is another thing, today it is the product that is being affected by all these delays beyond the final consumer, because the final consumer is willing to buy cherries; if we could ensure having a super cherry like the one that left Chile after 23 days of travel, probably the consumer would not have problems paying the price, today the big question is how long the fruit will last. Today we have varieties like the Regina that we all know has some changes in its flavor over time, it is what should arrive the most in terms of volume, therefore the unknown is in the condition of the fruit more than the market,” explained Victor Maroto.”
There are still 3,000 containers of cherries to arrive in China, which should be sold during the month of February. However, it is estimated that due to logistical problems and the delays that this has caused, the commercial season may be extended until the beginning of March.
“The challenge we all have is that everything that is backlogged is sold within the next 15 days approximately,” concluded the Commercial Manager of Fruttita.
