Chile, a leader in blueberry production in the southern hemisphere

The development of blueberries in Chile has been dizzying. This season blueberry production increased by 40%, steep at 37.000 tons. In 1992, Chile had only 1,172 hectares planted with this product. Actual surface with blueberries reaches 10,762 hectares. Of these, 4,232 (39% of the
total) were planted in the 2006/2007 season. No wonder then that Felipe Rosas, Executive Director of Berries of Chile, finds that for 2010-2011 production to exceed 95.000 tons. Nor is that Chile is the leader of the blueberry industry in the Southern Hemisphere and 5 sixth world producer with nearly 10% of total production.
The growth in global demand for cranberries, estimated at 10% per annum, and its novel product quality and healthy were the main drivers of the increase in Chilean production.
Where will this stop production? The main importer of Chilean fresh blueberries is, clearly, USA. It was addressed to 15.515 tons during the 2007-2008 season, 70% of consignments of fresh blueberries Chileans. More lies behind Europe, destination of 40% of exports, which stand out in the continent imports from Switzerland, Spain, the UK and Holland.

Everything ready for FRUITTRADE 2008

Chile has consolidated a position of leadership in recent years, maintaining a strong political, social, cultural and economic stability.
Therefore, to celebrate its bicentenary (2010), it aspires to become a developed nation, to maintain rates of gross domestic product growth above 6%.

This bonanza that the country has experienced has enabled a strong insertion in the globalized world, signing free trade agreements with the United States, China, Japan, Korea, Canada, Mexico, EFTA and other nations in Central America. In addition, the Association has agreements with the European Union and P4 (New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei) and maintains cooperative agreements with Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia Ecuador, Mercosur, Peru and Venezuela. There is now a partial agreement signed with India, with the aim of reaching a free trade agreement in the short term.
At the present time a partially signed agreement with India exists, in order to reach a Free Trade Agreement in the short term.

In the horticultural area, Chile is the principal producer in the Southern hemisphere. In agreement with the VI National Agricultural Census 2007, our country covers more than 308,446 hectares of fruits and vegetables, which represents an increase of 38.3% in 10 years. We have an extensive supply of fruits and vegetables, thanks to our special phytosanitary conditions that make the development of an industry with less use of chemicals possible, while counting on natural barriers that impede the entrance of pest and diseases present in other latitudes.

This new scenario of trade agreements has allowed the incorporation of new agents in the exporting process, which added to the high demand for foreign contact Chilean producers, the Federation of Fruit Producers of Chile - FEDEFRUTA decided to create six years ago, FRUITTRADE (www.fruittrade.cl), an opportunity to do business directly between local export-oriented producers with both Chilean and foreign buyers. This work is supported by the Chilean Export Promotion Bureau - ProChile, a department of the Foreign Ministry.

This new scenario that has been developed in Chile recent years has been constantly concerned to improve productivity in all areas, including the public sector. Along with this, we have fostered the development of a culture of initiative and individual responsibility and less dependency on the state.

There are more than enough reasons to participate in Fruittrade 2008, we invite you to purchase directly from the producers of the most extensive supply of fruit and vegetables in the southern hemisphere. We hope to see you the 29th and 30th of September at the Sheraton Hotel in Santiago, the capital of Chile.