Andrés Nawrath, Sales Manager of Copefrut, anticipates part of the analysis and perspectives of the fresh produce business that will be carried out at the 11th. EXPO Dried Plums, organized by Chileprunes.
Around 99% of Chilean fresh plum exports go to China. We are talking about around 58 thousand tons.
And given the absolute importance that the Chinese market has when it comes to fresh plums, there being a strong culture of consumption of this product there that other Asian countries do not have -except Taiwan-, it is essential to be clear about what is What do they understand by quality fruit?
Andrés Nawrath, Sales Manager of Copefrut, says that they understand quality in terms of product consistency, that is, that all the fruits have a similar maturity, a good reaction to transportation and maintain an attractive aesthetic, as well as a uniformity of color and above all sweetness (brix degrees) that impacts the consumer experience.
Faced with this requirement, he considers it essential to have a production culture in the orchards, so that producers know what the critical parameters are, where of course, a few overripe or translucent units in a box are unacceptable.
“It is essential to know what the customer wants, and to carry out this cultural work for fresh fruit, which is very different from the work carried out for dried plums,” says the specialist.
China does not provide official statistics on its agricultural production, but since Copefrut has an office in that country, with some visibility of what is produced, they have sources of information that may be close to reality and whose review will be mentioned at the Dried Plums EXPO . next Wednesday, March 20.
In addition, Andrés Nawrath will show a table on the possibilities of returns in dollars that this business has if things are done well, taking some figures from last year as a reference.
It is true that the Chinese market is unpredictable in terms of prices. This is not known until it is traded on the market, since it is by free consignment, and is also altered by various factors – sometimes unknown to the Chilean exporter – that zigzag year after year. “In any case, by the date of the event, the first ships will have already arrived in Asia, which will allow us to give some reference to what could happen the rest of the season in the fresh plum market,” says the specialist.
