Setting its sights on increasing its share of fresh fruits exports to India, Chile has launched a first-of-its-kind campaign to promote kiwifruit in India. The idea behind this strategic promotional effort would be to increase trade and consumer awareness about the quality of Chilean kiwifruit, said Charif Christian Carvajal, marketing director for Asia at the Chilean Fruit Exporters’ Association (ASOEX) here on Wednesday.
Chile is the third largest exporter of kiwifruit in the world and earned $188 million through kiwifruit exports in 2017. With Chile signing a preferential trade agreement (PTA) with India last year, the Latin American country enjoys 50 per cent advantage in tariffs as compared to other countries that export this exotic fruit to India.
In addition to the Chilean government, through its trade commission, fruit exporters from the country as well as importers are participating in the campaign, he said.
According to Carvajal, Chilean kiwifruit exports to India in 2017-18 was over 5,300 tonnes. “In the current season, we have already crossed 8,000 tonnes till date,” he said.
Apart from the price advantage, kiwifruit exports from Chile enjoy a seasonal edge. Unlike in other major kiwifruit producing countries where it is produced mainly from October onwards, in Chile kiwifruit grows between March and October. This is one of the advantages of being in the southern hemisphere, Carvajal said.
“The Indian market is very important to Chile for many reasons. Firstly, the sheer size of the Indian market. Second, Chile needs to diversify into exporting newer products,” said Carolina Vasquez, trade commissioner at the Chilean Embassy in New Delhi. “Through this campaign, our aim is to promote our kiwifruit and also raise awareness about Chile as a unique supplier of an array of food products such as berries, nuts and seafood, as well as creating a greater understanding of the benefits of the PTA signed between Chile and India,” she said.
According to Vasquez, Chile currently exports goods worth $2 billion to India, more than 80 per cent of which is copper. Food and beverages constitute only about 10 per cent of Chilean exports currently.
Chile is the largest fresh fruits exporter from the southern hemisphere. Its fresh fruit exports currently top 2.6 million tonnes, which is around 90 per cent of the total fruit produced in the country. It exports fruits of 30 different species to around 100 countries, Carvajal said.
Sumit Saran, director of the Gurgoan-based food marketing consultancy firm, SS Associates, roped in for the campaign, said because of increasing health awareness among Indians, kiwifruit is becoming popular not just in metro cities, but also in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.