Chilean Kiwifruit

Harsh frosts last September have significantly cut the Chilean kiwifruit crop this season, according to the Chilean arm of French kiwifruit marketer Primland.

PrimLand Chile said total Chilean yields are 60 per cent down on a typical year due to hard frosts during the growing period. Total volumes are estimated at around the 80,000-tonne mark, the company said in a press release.

PrimLand Chile will nonetheless have sufficient volume to supply its customers, said managing director Jean-Baptiste Pinel.

The firm expects to market 2,000 tonnes of Chilean kiwifruit this season under its Oscar Chile brand, just 30 per cent less than in a normal year.

“PrimLand Chile producers are situated principally in zones sheltered from the frost, meaning that its potential impact on the fruit – size, preservation etc – has been reduced, even though fruit sizes are on average slightly smaller than in a normal year,” said Etienne Malaguti, sales manager for PrimLand Chile.

“The first exports have begun with good quality fruit in terms of the amounts of sugar and dry matter.”

Pinel stressed that PrimLand Chile would continue to serve its established clients with the best possible conditions of quality, service and prices.

“In Asia, Oscar Chile is already well known and consumers particularly appreciate the regular quality of the fruit throughout the season. Sales are increasing within Eastern countries (Russia etc) and in North America,” he said.