Chile plays starring role in IFE

Fruits from Chile featured prominently in this year’s International Fruit Expo, which took place in Guangzhou, China on 1-3 September. Asoex president Iván Marambio opened the fair with a speech highlighting the strength of the bilateral relations between China and Chile in the fresh fruit trade.

“The Chinese fruit industry represents more than RMB1 trillion in transactions, with strong growth in terms of imports, production and exports. Currently, the three most imported fruits by China are durian, cherries and kiwifruit, of which Chile is an important supplier of two of them,” Marambio said.

“Our industry is committed to the development of the Chinese market and, despite the challenges we face, we are optimistic about the upcoming season for Chilean fruit in China, a country with which we have long years of friendship.”

Marambio highlighted the solid partnerships Chile had built with trusted importers, distributors and retailers in China to facilitate the growth of consumer demand through ongoing promotional campaigns.

He said Chile was committed to making resources available to the industry and transferring knowledge and good practices, for example, through the organisation of workshops to develop new regional markets and exchange visions, as is the case of the wholesale market of Wuhan.

“In addition, we invest in the development of informative material, such as the Cherry Trade Statistic and, soon, the Guide to Good Practices for Cherries. And we are sure that the coming days at IFE will inspire ideas and discussions around the ways in which together we can positively develop the Chinese fruit industry,” Marambio stated.

During the trade fair, the inauguration of the Fruits From Chile stand was attended by the president of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce for the Import and Export of Food, Indigenous Products and Animal Byproducts, the China Fruit Marketing Association, as well as representatives from Guangzhou JNH and Jiaxing wholesale markets and members of the Chilean Embassy in China.

During the second day of the fair, almost 200 importers, distributors and retailers attended a workshop organised by the Chilean Cherry Committee to launch the promotional campaign for the 2023/24 Chilean cherries season.

The trip also included a visit by a Chilean delegation made up of the heads of the different fruit sector committees to Guangzhou JNH wholesale market.