Below we publish an interview with the President of Frutas de Chile in Economy and Business from El Mercurio yesterday, Monday.
Iván Marambio anticipates potential growth because the recent rains ensured water for the coming seasons.
Almost 25 years after the first approach between Chile and the United States to implement the Systems Approach protocol for shipments of Chilean grapes to this North American market, the system is about to be formalized in the coming days. This advance is described as “the most important historical fact for our most traditional fruit, which is the grape,” according to Iván Marambio, president of Frutas de Chile.
The helmsman of the union tells “El Mercurio” that the entry into force of this protocol will be a catalyst for the national grape industry. He estimates that the Systems Approach would drive greater growth in the coming years among producers in the Atacama and Coquimbo regions now that they will not have to fumigate the fruit for shipment. This would encourage increasing the planted area, especially new varieties of this fruit, which currently represents 64% of the total exported, he says.
—In what sense does it translate as the most important fact for the grape?
“The grape is our traditional fruit. It must be remembered that between wine grapes and table grapes, Chile has more than 150,000 hectares planted, being by far the most important. If we think about the cherry, which is the fruit in fashion today, it does not reach 70,000 hectares. As a whole, the grapes have more than double that area, therefore, we are a grape-growing country. “So this news is the most important in its history, because it allows us to export without fumigation to the US, which is our main market.”
—What is the growth potential you estimate for this industry?
“If one could try to estimate what could happen in the future, this past season we exported 64 million boxes of table grapes to the world. Of that number, 40 million went to the United States, of which 15 million came from regions that are now free of fumigation. Those 15 million boxes could increase for the next seasons seeing what is happening with the new varieties in the north of Chile, because they are growing a lot. So, we think that we could easily have 25 million boxes of grapes going to the United States without fumigation.”
—How are they going to face the onslaught from Peru?
“This is the most important historical fact for our traditional fruit, which is the table grape. It was a fundamental issue for the competitiveness of the grape and the grape sector. Obviously there is a cost issue, given that Peru does not fumigate its grapes, and Chile does fumigate it, therefore, by not fumigating we are making progress on the cost side; and secondly, the fruit has the possibility of having better quality and better condition, therefore, we compete on equal terms with Peru and other origins in the American market. “All of this is fundamental for the future of this species.”
—Will it help recover competitiveness, which has been diminished in recent years?
“This catapults, at least the grapes from northern Chile, which corresponds to around more than 30% of production. It catapults her into a situation that we had not had and that projects her for the future. We think that there should be larger plantations with this, there would be more incentive to have larger grape plantations. Likewise, with what we are seeing now with the rain and what the authority is doing in terms of water infrastructure for the north of Chile, it will also enhance the development of the fruit business in table grapes.”
—During Chile’s last presidential tour to China, you raised this concern about the Systems Approach to President Boric, who later addressed the issue in a meeting with Joe Biden. How do you think that management helped?
“We have many public and private institutions to thank. But I would like to focus on three institutions that have been fundamental: the Ministry of Agriculture, and in particular Minister Valenzuela; Subrei and Undersecretary Claudia Sanhueza; and thirdly, to the President of the Republic (Gabriel Boric), who has been personally involved in this and has evidently been a catapult for this to work. That is, when the highest authority in the country is concerned about an issue, everything moves better and everything should work better because the highest authority is saying so. And in that sense, President Boric’s help has been fundamental.”
—Did this government move more in this matter compared to past administrations?
“I think that in general the State of Chile has been very supportive of the needs of fruit growing through its different governments.”
—But has this particular government been more supportive than others?
“This government has been very supportive regarding, at least since 2022, when I chair Frutas de Chile.”
—According to your perception, do you think it supported more than previous governments?
“I don’t know if it has been more. I think that this government has supported fruit growing a lot, particularly what is related to the drought and the Systems Approach.”
—On the other hand, how could tensions with China due to tariffs on Chinese steel affect fruit growing?
“The relationship between China and Chile goes far beyond the commercial relationship. These are two friendly countries and we do not think there will be any type of problem, especially with the fruit industry, which is very close to the Chinese people.”
—Isn’t it convenient for Chile to enter into a dispute with its main trading partner?
“We think that there will not be any type of problem between China and Chile.”
—After the last rains, how are you planning for the next season?
“For us the rains are a blessing. With the May rains and the June rains we have secured water for both human consumption and industry for next year, even for the next fruit season and we think even beyond that. Likewise, it gives us time to work, seeing it as a second opportunity to work to prevent possible droughts that may come in the future, especially in the northern center of Chile.
It has also been a fairly cold autumn, which is very good for the fruit and therefore we are very hopeful that, if there are no problems with the weather in spring, this could be the beginning of a cycle of greater volumes of fruit.”
