Second time lucky for cherry sector: The Chilean cherry harvest is anticipated to equal or exceed last season's record-breaking 8.7m cartons in 2008/09

摘要

With Chile's fresh cherry harvest set to begin on time in late October and volumes on course to meet last year's record, the South American nation's exporters are bracing themselves for another bonanza in 2008/09, provided the bottlenecks that createdproblems last season can be avoided. "Assuming the weather holds well, we estimate volumes will reach similar levels to 2007/08 - some 8.7m cartons," Isabel Quiroz, executive director at Chilean fresh fruit market consulting company IQonsulting, tells Eurofruit Magazine. Ms Quiroz says last year's bumper harvest was a mixed blessing for many exporters in Chile, since some were not prepared for such large volumes and lacked the infrastructure to handle the crop. "After the experience of last year, manypackers have installed new and better packing equipment, plus they are now better prepared to deal with bottlenecks," she explains.