On Wednesday, June 19 and Thursday, June 20, the last activities of the busy agenda of the Indian commercial delegation in Chile took place, organized by Chileprunes, and which included visits to plants, meetings and breakfasts with various Chilean exporters, as well as meetings with ProChile and Sofofa, among others.
Not to mention the sum – it is agreed among executives of Chilean prunes exporters – it has been a fruitful visit by three well-known importers in the industry, with many years of experience, located in some of the most populated cities in the world.
They did not have much experience in prunes and this visit has allowed them to learn about the seriousness of the work carried out in Chile and to exchange ideas and advice to grow in the future.
In the plants, they have been able to “review processes and machinery, see a healthy industry, with the best standards worldwide, and focused on the product and customer service. They see great potential in this fruit in India, and that is the most important thing,” says Bruno Ceroni, from Goodvalley.
“We are working with good importers. Chileprunes is carrying out an aggressive campaign, with a lot of information, which will make the volume grow a lot in 3-4 years,” adds Ceroni.
Grace Díaz, also from Goodvalley, adds that it is not normal to receive visitors from India at the plant, “we have high expectations in that market; It is a great opportunity to show them how professionals we are in this, and at the same time educate the market in that country about what prunes are.”
Cristián Infante, from Pacific Nut – a company that exports 5,500 tons -, says that those who came are excellent representatives who, without a doubt, can promote the prunes in India.
He added that “we must take advantage of the fact that prunes are a very healthy product and we must promote this in India, which is a market that is accustomed to eating in a very good way. But first, we must work to make consumers aware of this product.”
For his part, Agustín Marín Cobo, from Onizzo, adds that we are facing a market “with a gigantic potential that, for us, can move the demand curve in the medium future. “We want prunes to replicate the history that Chilean nuts have already made in India.”
This Friday, the Indian delegation visited Agrícola Siemel where Onizzo also operates as a strategic partner of Siemel. Onizzo sent its first container to India three weeks ago, a milestone in the company’s history.
José Antonio Soffia, from Superfruit, adds that it was necessary to promote an initiative like this; “We have the example of walnuts that 5-6 years ago, when 1,000 to 2,000 tons were exported and last year it reached 50,000 tons, with good marketing work involved. These activities undoubtedly help the product become better known in India.”
Karan Singh Bangari, secretary of the Indian embassy in Chile, adds: “I am very confident that the reputation that the walnut already has in India is now replicated with the prunes, taking advantage of its health benefits.”
Those who traveled to our country were Gunjan Vijay Jain, director of VKC Nuts Private Limited; Pratik Dattani, Managing Partner, Regency Global Ingredient LLP; and Rajeev Pabreja, CEO of Commodity Trading Corporation. The senior executives were accompanied by Sumit Saran, director of SS Associates, a consulting firm that supports Chileprunes in that country.
