The cherry sector has experienced exponential growth in the last decade to make Chile the largest producer of the fruit in the southern hemisphere.
Volumes have grown significantly from 1 million cases 10 years ago to a forecast 6m cases this season. Fruit has started picking in central growing regions and the harvest will move through the country and continue until early in January.
“The producers feel good,” said Isabel Quiróz, vice-president of market analyst and quality control firm Decofrut. “The market is not a problem here yet. The sector is growing every year and there is a lot of optimism.”
Although the US is the main market for Chile, the UK is gaining in importance as is the Netherlands for onward distribution around Europe. Exports to the UK grew by 77.4 per cent last season.
The bulk of sendings to all markets are Bing and 3.93m cases of the dark red variety were exported during 2005-06. There are more than 20 other types, but Lapin and Sweetheart are the second and third most popular.
In 2005-06 Chile exported 2.15m cases of cherries to the US and 794,689 cases to Europe including the UK.
No comments yet