Eight of the country’s leading fruit companies join forces to grow and sell varieties bred by Spain’s Ibergen Frutales
Eight of Chile’s leading fruit suppliers have formed BabyPlum Club, a new alliance to promote sales of premium plums in the international market.
Hortifrut Genetics, which holds the global licence for the BabyPlum portfolio of protected varieties, will oversee the group’s strategy in terms of genetics, agronomy, and consumer experience to drive category development.
The eight companies involved are Agrovic, Baika, Copefrut, Garcés Fruit, Gesex, IMG, Lafrut, and Sutil.
The varieties themselves were developed over several years by Ibergen Frutales, a leading stonefruit breeding company based in Spain.
Its breeding programmes are said to combine selection and evaluation under different production conditions, to ensure performance and quality.
The club’s focus will be on the entire production chain: from genetic breeding to field trials to define technical and production standards, with the aim of delivering a consistent premium experience across different markets, the group said.
Collaboration will centre around product development, while each company maintains its own commercial management.
Juan Ignacio Allende, member of the Hortifrut Genetics advisory board and a leading figure behind the project, described the club’s creation as “very positive news” for Chile’s fruit industry.
“The fact that eight leading companies in the sector have chosen to work with Hortifrut Genetics to select, test, and develop a premium plum programme in Chile is a significant milestone,” he said.
“It reflects a shift in the way the country positions itself internationally, focusing on high-value fruit that can deliver differentiated experiences for consumers. This is a very strong trend in today’s most demanding markets.”
Plum position
The club’s creation marks an important milestone for Chile’s fruit industry, with leading players working together to offer consumers a differentiated product with high standards at origin.
“Our experience in other categories such as cherries has shown us the importance of planning with the market in mind and avoiding concentration in a single destination,” commented José Villela, manager of Hortifrut’s prunus programme.
“BabyPlum reflects that learning: the development of innovative genetics designed from the outset to compete in the premium segment on a global scale.”
Ibergen Frutales founder Juan Negueroles said his company had spent years developing superior stonefruit varieties with real value for growers and consumers.
“BabyPlum is the result of that work and, in this second generation, we seek to consolidate its proposition and project it internationally,” he said. “That is why we brought in Hortifrut Genetics: its experience in articulating the Club, defining common production standards, and connecting the product with the market accelerates the building of the category.”
BabyPlum’s positioning at point of sale is expected to align with current consumption trends such as snackification, the search for healthy indulgence, and a preference for consistent, premium experiences.
Sold in a ready-to-eat format, it offers intense flavour, high sweetness, juiciness, and a firm texture – all designed to deliver a differentiated experience with high perceived value.
From a technical standpoint, BabyPlum is said to be geared toward exports and long-distance shipping, with quality and freshness maintained all the way to destination.
