Andrés Santa Cruz, founder and CEO of Kaikén, points out that the company focuses more than 60% of its business on D’Agen plums and projects 20% growth in D’Agen prunes during the coming season.
D’Agen plums are by far the core of Kaikén’s business. This is according to Andrés Santa Cruz, who points out that around two-thirds of the company’s business is focused on this variety, both fresh and dried, which has allowed them to establish themselves as specialists within the industry.
In fact, within the company’s total operations, prunes account for about 40% of the business, while plums account for approximately 25%.
“Today we work with three fruits: D’Agen plums, cherries, and walnuts. But plums are still the most important for us,” explains Santa Cruz.
He adds that having both formats allows them to better understand the behavior of the fruit and the demands of each market. This combination has also been highly valued by producers, as it provides them with a comprehensive commercial alternative for their production.
Kaikén currently works with 28 D’Agen plum producers, offering them supplementary services such as fruit drying in addition to marketing, responding to the needs of those producers who prefer to use it.
Fresh versus dried
Santa Cruz points out that the prune market is more mature and stable, offering greater predictability in annual returns. “There have been price variations, but always within a range of good returns, which gives producers peace of mind,” he says.
In contrast, the fresh market is more volatile. However, the last season was positive: “The quality of the fruit was good, and the market rewarded it with higher prices than the previous season. It wasn’t crazy, but it was a solid season.”
In terms of markets, 100% of plums are exported to China, while prunes continue to be mainly exported to China, followed by Poland, Germany, England, and Mexico, which make up the top five destinations for Kaikén.
During the last season, Kaikén exported 2,000 tons of prunes and 1,500 tons of plums. For the coming season, the company plans to reach 2,000 tons of fresh fruit and grow by around 20% in dried fruit.
“We believe that the ideal situation is for producers to be able to allocate part of their fruit to fresh and part to dried, especially today when both uses offer attractive returns,” concludes Santa Cruz.
