Chile eyes opportunities for its Hayward kiwifruit in US

Last year was a challenging one for Chile’s kiwifruit sector after the frosts of 2013 decimated production volumes.

But according to Chilean Fresh Fruit Association (CFFA) marketing director Karen Brux, this year looks very promising, in particular for the country’s Hayward kiwis.

With Zespri now focusing on organic green and yellow kiwi, that opens up a window for Chile in supplying the conventional green ones, the CFFA believes.

Brux said demand for organic kiwis is increasing, which also bodes well for the country’s organic growers.

Brux said marketing of kiwis in the US is increasingly sophisticated. At the same time consumers are hungry for more information about the nutritional qualities and flavours of different fruits and want practical tips on how to incorporate them into their daily diets. This type of information helps drives sales, something that is increasingly important as there was little growth in either fruit consumption in general, or for kiwis in particular, in the US, from 2000–2012.

“Demand for kiwis in the US would be much higher if consumers were offered a good product year, but unfortunately that’s not the case,” she said.

“Chilean growers must follow the correct procedures to produce, harvest and send the fruit at the right time (e.g, not send Hayward kiwi in March when it is still unripe).”

“We have to show both distributors and American consumers that Chile can offer consistently good tasting fruit.”

Read the full interview in Spanish