Export group Dole Chile has reportedly signed a deal with the Summerkiwi Corporation – a group of Chilean exporters – which will see it supply the early-ripening kiwifruit variety Summerkiwi to a number of customers, including leading North American importer Oppenheimer.
As reported on the Fresh Fruit Portal website, the company's technical and commercial departments will work in tandem with other Chilean Summerkiwi exporters to plan production, meet the necessary quality standards and pack the fruit for sale to customers mainly in the US and Asia.
With harvesting already underway, Chile is expected to ship around 180,000-200,000 tonnes of kiwifruit this season.
Summerkiwi brand licence-holder and marketer Summerfruit, based in Italy, already has agreements in place for a number of Chilean exporters to sell Summerkiwi overseas.
The companies – Subsole, Copefrut, David del Curto, Frusan, Alsu, Lafrut, Sofruileg, Trinidad and Unifrutti – each had approximately 75ha of planted area last year.
Total Summerkiwi production in Chile was around 350ha last season and this figure is expected to rise to 500ha in the near future.
