The export volume of Chilean cherries to Russia at the beginning of February 2022 exceeded the volume exported in the previous season and reached 176 tonnes. Exports to the Russian market are planned to continue until the beginning of March, including holiday deliveries for St. Valentine’s Day. The marketing support program by the Chilean Cherry Committee was launched in the 2021/22 season in Russia for the first time.

During the marketing campaign in Russia, a webinar was held for participants of the Russian fruit market, advertising banners were installed on FoodCity, and negotiations were held with leading retailers. An SMM campaign was also launched with lifestyle influencers to draw attention to the product and boost sales.

Despite the logistical crisis caused by the pandemic and the decrease in purchasing power, fresh cherries in winter attract the attention of suppliers and are demanded by buyers. During the 2021/22 season, Chilean cherries were sold in Azbuka Vkusa, METRO C&C, VkusVill, Fruit Lavka supermarkets, at the central farmers’ markets in Moscow and St. Petersburg and in online stores.

“The first year of the promotion of cherries from Chile in Russia coincided with the difficult times of the pandemic, which significantly affected the logistics and speed of deliveries. Despite difficulties, the season was a success. This year, Chilean suppliers organized maritime deliveries of cherries to Russian retail,” comments Sharif Carvajal, Marketing Director for Europe, Asia and the Middle East of the Chilean Association of Fruit Exporters (ASOEX).

The main slogan of the advertising campaign was ​​”Enjoy a wonderful moment.” Cherries from Chile can be an unusual and healthy gift for winter holidays, such as New Year’s Eve, Christmas, or Valentine’s Day. For people leading a healthy lifestyle, cherries can replace candies or cakes on their weekly shopping list.

You can find a list of suppliers of Chilean cherries at comitedecerezas.cl.

Сообщение Winter cherries from Chile: the launch of an advertising campaign and growing deliveries to Russia появились сначала на EastFruit.

Exports of cherries from Chile in the 2021/22 season are expected to grow by 2.6% compared to last year and amount to 361,840 tonnes. 95% of the export of Chilean cherries goes to Asian countries. Diversification of the export geography is one of the pillars of the industry development. In 2021, Russia became a new market, where the Chilean Cherry Committee launched a marketing support program.

As part of the campaign launch, a webinar “Imports of cherries from Chile to Russia. Questions and answers” was held. The speaker of the event was Sharif Christian Carvajal, Marketing Director for Europe, Asia and the Middle East of ASOEX (Chilean Association of Fruit Exporters). Carvajal spoke about the forecasts for the current cherry harvest in Chile, the work of the Chilean Cherry Committee and experience in international promotion.

“Before we started promoting Chilean cherries in Russia, we carefully studied the Russian fruit market. We see opportunities to increase sales of Chilean cherries through wholesale distribution channels, as well as premium retail and HoReCa,” the speaker emphasized.

Importers asked practical questions about the supply of goods to Russia during the event. The webinar recording is available here. A list of suppliers of Chilean cherries can be found at comitedecerezas.cl.

The details of the campaign in Russia were highlighted by the program coordinator – Ksenia Gorovaya. “Negotiations are underway with the largest suppliers of cherries to Russia, and promotions are planned in chain retail stores for Valentine’s Day. During the season we also plan an advertising campaign in specialized media and on FoodCity, collaboration in social networks with popular bloggers from Moscow and St. Petersburg”.

According to a sociological study by the RANEPA, the number of Russians having a healthy lifestyle has tripled over the past decade – from 5% in 2010 to 15% in 2021. More and more people are thinking about healthy nutrition and minimizing sugar in their diet. Delicious and healthy cherries are a great holiday gift instead of traditional sweets, especially in winter.

Сообщение Imports of cherries from Chile to Russia – market prospects появились сначала на EastFruit.

Cherry accounts for about 46% of all world trade in stone fruit in value although the share of cherries in exports quantity is much more modest – only 19%.

The world exports of cherries in monetary terms is growing by $363.27 thousand every year, significantly outstripping other stone fruits trade – peach, plum, apricot. It happens despite the fact that cherries are on average 3-4 times more expensive than the other stone fruits mentioned above!

In fact, cherries trade is getting more and more profits among other stone fruits. What is the phenomenon of cherries? Why is their trade successful globally? What is the reason for the growth in global demand for cherries? Why, despite the growth in the production of cherries in the world, global prices for cherries are growing faster than for other stone fruits?

The economist of the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Andriy Yarmak gave answers to these and other questions during a virtual training on the effective organization of promotion and packaging of fruit and vegetable products for exports. The event was organized by the USAID Competitiveness, Trade and Jobs Activity (CTJ) Project.

“First of all, cherry trade is getting more and more importance among the other stone fruits. The second important factor in the growing popularity of cherries is their cultivation in Southern Hemisphere countries, from where they can be exported during the New Year holidays. The population of the Northern Hemisphere, a region with cold winter, is ready to buy expensive fruits. The third factor is that cherries have a taste that the absolute majority of consumers enjoy, unlike, for instance, plums or peaches or even apricots. I have not met a single person who does not like the taste of cherries,” Andriy Yarmak explained.

He also noted other important factors in the global success of cherries like the improvement of growing technologies and acceleration of the breeding programs, which allows to increase the size of the fruit. Cherry calibers 30+ and 32+ are now the standard in many regions of the world.

The same factors have a positive effect on the organoleptic properties of cherries and on their quality, which permits to increase the shelf-life of the product.

Another important discovery that contributed to the increase in the popularity of cherries in the world market, according to the expert, was the Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) technology. It allows to keep cherries fresh for up to 60 days without significant loss of quality. This packaging technology opened up opportunities for the maritime logistics of cherries, which significantly reduced delivery costs compared to air logistics. This, in turn, resulted in reduced price for the end consumer and increased demand. Today, thanks to the MAP technology, cherries can be transported in sea containers to almost anywhere in the world.

“Another feature of the world cherry market, which has ensured its phenomenal success, is the so-called “China’s cherry freedom”. First, cherries have become a symbol of the Chinese New Year, thanks to the promotion efforts by the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association. This is advantageous for Chile as cherries ripen there just in time! Before the start of the Chinese New Year celebrations, Chilean fresh cherries are sold in China in beautiful gift wrapping and in large quantities. At the same time, they have become a symbol of economic prosperity in China – it is considered prestigious to buy cherries in China in winter and it confirms the high social status of the consumer. Thus, cherries in China are a status-symbol, since they are not cheap. At the same time, cherries of large caliber and dark color are preferred on the Chinese market. By the way, China and Hong Kong import $3 billion worth of cherries annually, and the bulk of this import falls on New Year’s holidays,” Andriy Yarmak explained.

He also noted that world prices for cherries are growing faster every year than any other type of stone fruit, despite their being the most expensive product, which indicates a rapid growth in demand! At the same time, prices for fresh apricots, for instance, are declining annually, although world trade in apricots is also growing. Not so fast as in cherries, though.

According to the expert, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have an excellent opportunity to make profit on cherries exports, because they, unlike Turkey and many other countries, already have access to cherry markets. In addition, labor costs are significantly lower there than in Chile or even in Turkey, and the smaller the fruit, the more expensive it is to harvest. Thirdly, the climate in Central Asian countries is almost perfect for growing cherries. Fourth, apart from China, the demand for cherries is growing rapidly in many other Asian countries. Fifthly, Andriy Yarmak believes that the development of air logistics will allow Central Asian countries to successfully exports cherries, including to the EU countries, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, as the air transportation cost is low relative to the high price of cherries.

However, the FAO expert drew attention to the need to intensify the production and refinement of cherries, which is indispensable for successful sales. “Hydrocooling is a prerequisite for exporting cherries from a region which is far from sales markets. If cherries are not cooled, you can watch your money going down the drain. Indeed, cherries are often harvested at a very high temperature in Uzbekistan, so they must be cooled to at least 10 degrees Celsius immediately after harvesting, otherwise they quickly lose moisture and weight. You should also pay attention to the technology of growing cherries in greenhouses, and switch to intensive production technologies in order to obtain high-quality large cherries,” Andriy Yarmak summed up.

Сообщение Global cherry market and Chinese cherry phenomenon появились сначала на EastFruit.

According to EastFruit analysts, in the first two months of 2021, China increased fruit imports by 34% over the same period in 2020 to a record $ 3.2 billion. Thus, in just two years, fruit imports to China in January-February grew by $ 1 billion, or 45%, and in four years (in 2021 to 2017), fruit imports to China tripled!

Considering such an impressive growth rate of fruit imports to China, the decline in imports of cherries looks unexpected. Cherries become a kind of symbol of the country’s economic growth, known as “China’s cherry freedom.”  The decline in cherry imports, however, was rather insignificant – only one and a half percent. Still, during this period, sweet cherries were the No. 1 imported fruit in China.

The import of bananas, unexpectedly, grew by 74%, which allowed the banana to bypass longan – another tropical fruit popular at this time of the season in China. Bananas were exported to China mainly by the Philippines (62% share in imports) and Ecuador (28%).

Longan, also called the “dragon’s eye”, ranked third among the most popular imported fruits in China in January-February 2021, and its imports grew by 9%. Only two countries supplied this fruit to China – Thailand and Vietnam.

Imports of table grapes also rose, after falling a year earlier during the coronavirus outbreak. In January-February 2021, China imported $ 133 million worth of grapes, mainly from Peru. There was an upward trend in grape supplies from Chile but share of this country was not very high during this period.

The record holder for the growth rate of fruit imports to China over the specified period was mangosteen – an exotic fruit that was supplied to China mainly from Thailand and Indonesia. Its imports jumped 14 times or 1400% over the previous year and reached $ 107 million.

What about durian? After all, we know that durian has been the main imported fruit to China in the recent years. The growth rate of durian imports is still impressive – in January-February 2021 imports of durian to China increased 4.5 times compared to previous year! Therefore, in 2021 we are likely to see a new record of durian imports to China. And -Thailand was the only country supplier of durians to China in January-February 2021.

Among other top positions in the fruit and nut imported by China in the first two months of 2021, imports of the following ones increased: blueberries – by 6%, pistachios – by 7%, pineapples – 2.5 times, peaches – by 40% and plums – by 78%.

The dragon-fruit was the only other position, besides cherries, imports of which dropped in the period in review. Dragon fruit imports to China decreased by 25%.

Chile remained atop the ranking of fruit and nuts supplying countries to China in January-February 2021, earning more than $ 1 billion in just two months. Chile is followed by Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, USA and Peru. In the United States, the top three export positions were occupied by the nuts: pistachios, almonds and hazelnuts. Moreover, for hazelnuts there was the sharpest increase in supplies – 900 times! For walnuts, supplies also increased significantly. The USA also supplied fresh orange and apple to China, but there was a sharp decline in exports of these fruit categories.

Сообщение Fruit imports to China breaking records in early 2021. What’s trending? появились сначала на EastFruit.