The cherry season ends with different visions regarding its results, because the numbers actually indicate that the volumes were very similar to those of the last campaign and the prices achieved were superior, which would result in evaluating it as a successful season, however, other analysts have classified it as a bad campaign and that it presents future challenges that must be resolved promptly.

Successful campaign

The executive director of the Chilean Fruit Cherry Committee, Claudia Soler, in her speech at the XXX International Berries & Cherries Seminar He highlighted that in general the season was good, since the drop in volumes that was projected due to the intense rains in November and other harmful effects of the climate on the crops, such as temperatures, was finally not large and shipments were very similar. to the volumes sent in the 2022 campaign.

“There was a good reception of our cherries on the part of consumers, which allowed the fruit to rotate well,” he commented, adding that prices were at high rates, which notably favored the results of the campaign, which could be described as successful in this scenario.

China, main destination

“The main market for cherries was China, although we have sent 413.979 tons to different markets around the world, a figure very similar to last season. Regarding our shipments to China, exports show a record, with shipments 3,3% higher than the previous season, amounting to 377 thousand tons,” he explained.

Projections

For its part, Manuel Jose Alcaino, in its "Analysis of cherry season results and projections” held at the same meeting on April 11, questioned this view and warned the cherry industry not to make mistakes that have led other industries to lose competitiveness and presence in the markets.

The analyst made projections of the cherry industry for the next three campaigns, and set the volumes of shipments to the markets at 526.641 tons for the 2024/2025 season; 583.088 tons for the 2025/2026 campaign; and in 636.145 tons for the 2026/2027 season, respectively, which implies sustained growth that opens up other challenges and that the analyst warns must be anticipated, such as the diversification of markets to place these approximately 20 million boxes of annual growth.

Manuel Jose Alcaino – President Decofrut

Warning

“This year there was little fruit, due to delays in production affected by the climate effect. This caused a rise in prices, due to little supply to satisfy demand. The good prices triggered the appearance of a lot of fruit on the market that in other circumstances does not appear, due to lower quality or condition. This was what caused the season to equal the volumes of the previous campaign, but it is a misleading effect, and one that will not be repeated. The season was not good, it must be said,” declared the specialist.