After visiting the Prunesco and Frutexsa plants, meeting with representatives of South365 and Kaikén and, in between, visiting and relaxing at a pleasant lunch at Viña Santa Rita, the representatives of the Indian delegation express a serious interest in working together with the Chilean prunes producing and exporting companies.
Gunjan Vijay Jain, director of VKC Nuts Private Limited, has sought to leave the message to the Chilean counterpart in different instances; about the relevance of ‘playing on the same side of the court’ to reach consumers in a better way, but emphasizes that, for this, it is also relevant to do so with product promotion plans that are not 1 or 2 years, but rather long term, thinking about 5, 6 or 7 years.
Even more so if it is a completely unknown product in India, where “prunes”, many people have confused it with an animal, he comments anecdotally.
The other members of the delegation are Pratik Dattani, managing partner of Regency Global Ingredient LLP; and Rajeev Pabreja, managing director of Commodity Trading Corporation. The senior executives are being accompanied by Sumit Saran, director of SS Associates, an international consulting firm that supports Chileprunes in that country.
Marcelo Lacunza, commercial manager of Prunesco, points out that “they want long-term relationships, that extend for many years, and not just a season, we agree on that.”
And he adds: “I think the results of this meeting are going to be very good. India is a very attractive country due to the size of the country, and the consumption of prunes is very low, so it has been a very good decision to bring them to Chile, invest in this, show them what the Chilean industry is and the technology. what we have”.
Likewise, he points out, Chile has a stable harvest over time where they can ensure a volume year after year that can satisfy the needs of a market like India.
Lacunza also highlights that “they see the Chilean origin as a premium, top-of-the-line origin, due to the campaigns that Chile has previously carried out in those markets.”
Sebastián Plaza Sales & Product Manager at Frutexsa, adds that there is a very good will from the Indian delegation, from the clients, to promote the consumption of plums and for them, they ask us to make the efforts, not just one or two years, but long term, five to six years of investment in promotion. “They understand what the market is like, they know it’s going to take time,” he says.
They are very aligned and eager to grow consumption in India – he adds – and to do so, we must work together. “I was left with the best impressions and goodwill from customers to grow this category of prunes. It is a market that can reach 10 to 12 thousand tons in a short time, in 6 to 7 years, something relevant if as a country, in total we export 70 thousand tons.”
He adds that Chileprunes’ resources have been invested in a good way, it is very valuable to bring in importers, and for them to see that the product we send them is one produced by first-class processing plants.
