Chilean plum exporters sent more fruit to Europe this year, but have suffered from diminishing returns and will not look back on 2007 with fondness.
The UK imported 13 per cent more boxes of Chilean plums in 2007, taking a total of 1.16 million cartons. Exports to Europe as a whole, however, increased by 33 per cent in carton terms, as the Chilean industry bounced back from a relatively poor volume year in 2006.
But average prices achieved by exporters dropped by 15 per cent year on year, as the marketplace became more competitive due to a simultaneous increase in volume from South Africa, and issues with the condition of the fruit, from all regions, caused more problems as the season progressed.
The arrival of poor-quality fruit, as well as significant sendings of small-sized plums to the European marketplace, did nothing to enhance the reputation of Chilean plums with either importers or consumers, said an official source.
The exchange rate favoured Chileans though, which acted as small compensation, but could not cover the entire shortfall and was insufficient to bring the value up to the same levels as the previous year.
Heavy snow in some production regions has caused significant damage to early fruit, but as yet there are no concrete predictions for the upcoming plum season.
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