On the morning of December 9, the first “Cherry Express” ship of the season arrived in Hong Kong. The Seaspan Brightness ship arrived in the Asian market, after a 23-day voyage by sea, marking the official start of the season for maritime shipments of Chilean cherries.

In the afternoon of the same day, the Chilean cherry industry joined China's leading e-commerce portal, JD.com, to hold a joint press conference in Shanghai to celebrate the arrival.

On the occasion, Gonzalo Figueroa, Consul General of Chile in Shanghai; Freya Huang, Marketing Coordinator of the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association (ASOEX), and Yuan Yang, head of public affairs for the East China region at JD Retail Group, highlighted - in each of their speeches - the start of Chilean cherry season in China.

At 19.30:XNUMX p.m. that same day, Chilean cherries were promoted on public roads in one of the tallest buildings in the center of the Chinese economic capital, the "Shanghai North Bund W Hotel", which was illuminated with slogans inviting not to run out of "his Chilean cherries" and buy them at JD.com. The skyscraper, with its red lights, created a festive atmosphere full of warmth and good fortune. Pinduoduo and Tmall, the other two Chinese e-commerce giants, also respectively celebrated the first maritime arrival of the season.

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A total of 145 containers of cherries arrived, docked in Hong Kong, cleared customs and arrived at the Jiangnonghui Fruit Wholesale Market in Guangzhou on the same day, arousing great expectations.

Although the arrival date of the first ocean cargo this year is not much different from last year, the arrival volume has increased considerably, from 54 containers last year to 145 this year. The peak availability of Chilean cherries is expected to arrive soon, as a second ship, loaded with 126 containers, arrived in Shanghai on December 11.

In addition to the 39 "Cherry Express" vessels and the 11 normal ones, Chilean exporters will also use chartered refrigerated vessels this season. According to the official forecast made by the Chilean Cherries Committee of ASOEX, Chile will export this season 89.353.878 standardized boxes of 5 kg or 446.769 metric tons of fresh cherries to the world market, which represents an increase of 25% compared to the previous season. .