“In general terms, for exporters, the situation is quite tight,” said Rafael Carvajal, assistant supplies manager at exporter David Del Curto. “We haven’t had problems in terms of being unable to ship fruit, but we are being squeezed in the middle of the chain.” The reason for the problems are manifold, Carvajal told FPJ, but involve cardboard manufacturers ordering paper supplies too late hoping that prices would fall. “It has been a problem the whole season, but we are feeling it more now that the apple season has started and our demand has increased,” said Carvajal.
But Arturo Costabal, marketing director of exporter Unifrutti, claims the situation is of exporters’ making. “The problem lies with those firms that do not plan adequately and require materials at the last minute,” he said. “The diversity of boxes required slows production from a maximum of 100,000 pieces a day to 40,000. But Unifrutti has not suffered significantly considering we use 138 different boxes.”
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