Alessandro Fornari, director of Italian kiwifruit consortium Kiwigold, has spoken to Fruitnet.com about the 'great fear' he and his colleagues felt following last Saturday's earthquake in Chile, where they have been visiting producers and exporters.
Mr Fornari and three colleagues – Kiwigold president Patrizio Neri, vice-president Christian Moretti and technical manager Cristina Fabbroni – were visiting production areas around the city of Curicó one day prior to the quake and were staying in Santiago when it struck.
Curicó, which is located in the region of Maule around 180km south of the capital, is one of Chile's most important fruit-producing areas.
The area, an important producer of grapes, kiwifruit, was one of the areas worst hit by the disaster, as was Maule, a major supplier of kiwifruit, topfruit, stonefruit and berries to international markets.
'After two days without knowing anything about what happened to our friends in Curicó, we were able to re-establish contact,' said Mr Fornari. 'They told us that the centre of the city has been destroyed.'
Fruit production and facilities belonging to producers in the surrounding countryside had also been hit hard, he understood.
'Grapes were in the harvesting phase and they lost a lot of production,' Mr Fornari reported. 'A number of kiwifruit canopies also fell, and there was also damage to wineries, packhouses and nursery structures.'
Mr Fornari also confirmed reports that Chile's road network had been affected by the earthquake, with access along the country's key north-south route 5 impeded by fallen bridges.
In terms of kiwifruit, Mr Fornari said the potential repercussions for Chilean production were still 'difficult to assess'.
The Kiwigold Consortium is developing production of its Jintao variety – marketed under the Jingold brand – across South America, with Chilean volumes representing a key component in its plan to supply the fruit year-round.
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