This superfood is imported to nearly 70 countries around the world.
In the first half of 2023, China, Germany, and Mexico became the three main destinations for Chilean prunes, which, as a whole, considering 67 countries, reached 25,616 metric tons (MT) that reached a value of US$ 104,4 millions.
Regarding the three countries on the podium, shipments to China reached 5,816 metric tons (MT) of prunes, equivalent to US$19 million, while to Germany they were 3,455 MT, equivalent to US$15.9 million, and to Mexico the volume reached 2,359 MT and US$ 8.7 million.
The next destinations were Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom, Russia, the United States, Italy and Australia. The rapid return to normality of the Russian market, a historic buyer of this Chilean fruit, is striking, a location that was diminished in 2022 by the start and development of the war with Ukraine.
The information is provided by the Office of Agrarian Studies and Policies (Odepa), an agency under the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture.
Chile is the main global exporter of this fruit. Shipments of Chilean prunes, during 2022, reached US$ 256 million, equivalent to 67,000 metric tons.
Thanks to a surface cultivated with European plum that reaches 12,550 hectares, Chile is capable of a total production of plums of around 100,000 MT per year, of which 2/3 are destined to dehydrated, which after the drying process are to a tenderization process, after its natural condition, in containers according to customer requirements, direct to retail or in bulk, delivering a diversified and constant quality final product over time, indicate in Chileprunes, a union that now brings together more than 70% of prunes exports.
