José Tomás Correa, commercial manager of Chilean fruit exporter Prize, was in the UK this week, looking to build a client base for the company’s kiwifruit, cherries, top fruit and grapes.
Prize was established in 2006 and, until now, has primarily exported kiwifruit to Europe. More than 90 per cent of its 500,000 carton exports is kiwifruit, and through an exclusive partnership deal with New Zealand kiwifruit marketer Zespri International, 40 per cent of that volume has been sold through Zespri’s European marketing desk.
Own-brand sales in France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Russia, as well as business across North America, Latin America, and the Far East and Middle East, have made up the remainder of Prize’s business. But Correa is interested first in expanding kiwifruit sales beyond the four-week late-April to late-May window that Chile dominates between New Zealand and Italian sales, as well as establishing a new market for a wider basket of products.
Correa told FPJ: “We have a very strong relationship with Zespri, which we are committed to, but we also want to develop our own-brand sales in the UK and Europe. Chilean kiwifruit is not yet held in the same regard as New Zealand fruit maybe, but Prize is supplying Zespri with Hayward and Gold kiwifruit that meets all of its specifications, otherwise it would not get into a Zespri box.
“We have the smaller sizes that the UK market likes, and we feel there is an opportunity to increase our presence in the market outside the window for Hayward that is currently perceived to exist for Chile.
“We work very closely with six growers and have relationships with several more, and we will be adding more products to our portfolio next year. We have a very good Forelle pear business already, and expect that to triple in the next three years, but we will also export cherries, apples and grapes in greater volume in the 2009 season.”
Correa is looking across different market sectors for customers, but said that Prize has ambitious expansion plans. “It is not just about increasing volume; we will achieve that by maintaining our quality standards throughout the chain,” he said. “Our plan is to double our export volumes by 2011.”
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