Chile sets out competitiveness strategy at launch of Fruits from Chile brand

Asoex, the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association, has rebranded as Fruits from Chile as part of a strategy to address mounting competition from other Southern Hemisphere suppliers and internal structural challenges facing the country’s fruit industry.

At a launch seminar for the new name held this week, the association set out a roadmap to boost the competitiveness and growth of the Chilean fruit industry in partnership with the state.

Fruits from Chile president, Iván Marambio, set out the priorities the industry faces: better fruit quality, improved water infrastructure and port logistics, and better access to new markets through the deepening of free trade agreements with China, India and Korea.

Explaining the motivation behind the rebranding, Marambio said: “We are facing a very difficult fruit growing season, with threats from nature ­– such as heatwaves, lack of cold in winter, atmospheric rivers and more than a decade of drought, pressure from pests and competition that did not exist 10 years ago, which force us to adapt and compete, leading us to the conclusion that we needed a change in our image”.

Marambio said the new brand will help increase the competitiveness of the sector both nationally and internationally. “In the world in which we compete, image is very important and red is the colour that identifies Chile,” he added.

During the seminar, Nicolás Grau, Chile’s economy minister, highlighted two new bills designed to facilitate fruit exports – a new cabotage law making maritime cargo movements more efficient and resilient, and the structural reform of sectoral permits, which will speed up shipment times without compromising regulatory quality.

Agriculture minister, Esteban Valenzuela, then presented the government’s Sustainable Agri-Export Competitiveness Agenda 2023-25, which aims to maintain the country’s comparative advantages and improve its positioning in international markets.

“This is a great day for the sustainable agricultural and agri-export sector, because we have worked with all the actors, both public and private, of the Export Council, and a sustainability strategy has been agreed upon that has very relevant axes: the importance of human capital, the importance of improving treaties and the importance of a fruit sector with environmental traceability,” he said.

Addressing the complex international economic context Chile faces, economist Óscar Landerretche noted: “The problems we have are structural, from the point of view of economic growth, Chile is in a process of stagnation and it is important to look at it head on.

“Our external scenario is a slow scenario, it is not catastrophic, but it does have low demand. What can we do? It is a good time to build a culture of efficiency, effectiveness and resilience, which allows that, when things improve, we can create operating and cost conditions that allow us to lead the expansion that is coming in the future”.