Being the main destination for fruits such as table grapes, blueberries, and citrus fruits, the importance of this market as a recipient of Chilean fruit shipments arises thanks to the good relations that have been built in diplomatic terms and also in bilateral trade between both nations.
That is why yesterday, representatives of the Association of Fruit Exporters of Chile AG (ASOEX) participated in a ceremony at the Chilean Embassy in the United States, where 200 years of diplomatic relations between Chile and the United States were celebrated.
The event was led by the Chilean Ambassador to the United States, Juan Gabriel Valdés, and was attended by the embassy's team of professionals, as well as the president of ASOEX, Iván Marambio; the general manager of the entity, Miguel Canala-Echeverría, and representatives of the Blueberry Committee, Andrés Armstrong, and the Cherry Committee, Claudia Soler; in addition to the marketing director of ASOEX, Ignacio Caballero; Karen Brux, Marketing Director of CFFA North America, and Allison Myers, merchandising of the same entity.
«Being present at this important celebration makes us very happy, not only because we can meet with important actors to promote our fruit exports, but also because we believe that this commemoration highlights more than 200 years of mutual knowledge and the construction of solid diplomatic relations between both nations, but also of bilateral exchange, which have allowed our country to position itself as one of the main suppliers of fresh fruit in the United States. A position that has been built through the efforts of all the actors in the fruit chain, such as our producers, our exporters, our authorities, the American authorities, the importers, the shipping companies, ports and workers, and of course the consumers, who prefer our fruits for their quality and safety, a commitment that our industry seeks to fulfill every season.», said Ivan Marambio, president of ASOEX.
"The United States is not only the main destination for our table grapes, blueberries and citrus fruits, but it is also becoming an important destination for fruits such as cherries, with growth close to 60%3T," added the leader of the exporters.
It is worth noting that ASOEX's participation in this event is part of the mission that the entity is carrying out in the United States, where it has held important meetings with representatives of the US logistics chain, such as Holt Logistics and the Port of Wilmington.
Regarding relations between the US and the fruit sector, Miguel Canala-Echeverría observed: «Thanks to the good relations that exist between both countries, we have not only managed to develop and consolidate a fast and competitive bilateral fruit trade, but we were also the first South American country to have phytosanitary inspection sites that operate under a tripartite agreement between SAG-USDA/APHIS and ASOEX. These are facilities where compliance with the import protocols of Chilean fruit destined for the United States is inspected. Today, we are making significant progress in having a Systems Approach for Chilean table grapes that will be exported from the north of the country.»
It is worth noting that the event was also attended by important authorities from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), headed by Jennifer Moffit, Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs of the USDA; accompanied by Mark Davison, Deputy Administrator of Aphis PPQ; Eric Nichols, Director of the Aphis Trade Support Team; Barbara Spangler, Aphis Commercial Director; Ian Booth, International Trade Specialist of the USDA; Jeffrey Galloway, Head of the Western Hemisphere Office of the USDA; Sam Driggers, FAS Officer for Chile; Tyler Hubler, Senior Trade Policy Officer of the USDA; and Chanceuse Twagirlmana, USDA Southern Cone Officer. Also participating in the event were Robert Palaima, President of the Chilean-American Chamber of Commerce of Philadelphia; Lisa Himber, President of the Delaware River and Bay Maritime Exchange.
During the 2021-2022 season, Chile shipped 791,157 tons of fresh Chilean fruit to the United States, reflecting a growth of 2% compared to the previous year.
Finally, it is worth highlighting that the event was attended by senior executives from the logistics chain such as: Leo Holt, President of Holt Logistics; Sean Mahoney, Marketing Director of the Port of Philadelphia; Joe Cruise, CEP of the Port of Wilmington and Miriam Borja, General Manager of Western Fumigation. In addition, representatives of importers and associations were present: John Ercolani, VP of J&K Fresh; Patrick Haines, Executive Vice President of World Fresh Produce; Peter Kopke, VP of Kopke JR INC William H.; Sarah Gorman, Director of International Trade of the Organic Trade Association; Marcial Hernández, Director of South American Imports of Pacific Trellis Fruit and John Pandol, Executive Director of Pandol Bros.
