The first shipment of Chilean blueberries to China under the new protocol put in place this year landed on the weekend, sent by Chilean grower-exporter Frusan. Asiafruit Magazine spoke with the company’s commercial manager Orieta Ramirez about their entry into the Chinese market.
How did you find the logistics of this first shipment? I understand it had to be transhipped via Sydney? Was it a difficult process?
OR: From Chile we don’t have direct flights to Shanghai so we must choose the best way to make it, and it was through Sydney. It’s always difficult, but we are used to it since we `have` shipped cherries to Asia since many years ago.
Chile has had some success sending seafreighted blueberries into Hong Kong. Why did you decide to use airfreight instead, and will you continue that, or shift to seafreight later on?
OR: We decided to do it in this way to save time and to be the first Chilean company with blueberries in the Chinese market – we will continue loading by air, sea/air, and also by sea directly.
What kind of packaging have you sent the fruit in? Are your Chinese buyers looking for small clamshells, or larger boxes they will repack?
OR: Our buyers are looking just for small clamshells.
What channels will your fruit be sold through?
OR: This first fruit is going to be sold in the wholesale market, but for the coming weeks we are coordinating with our importers to start to promote the blueberries into the retailers.
Which cities or regions in China are you focusing your blueberries on at the moment?
OR: We are focusing on the main cities; Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai.
What volume of blueberries do you hope to ship to China this season?
OR: It’ll depend on the quality and condition of the fruit, which is very related to the weather conditions.
