If you haven’t noticed as many loads of winter Chilean fruit imports available for hauling there is a reason. Due to weather factors volume has been less than in a normal year. Imports should be increasing this month at ports ranging from Philadelphia to Wilmington, NC and Long Beach, CA.
Grapes are typically the largest Chilean imported fruit and in a normal season about 50 million boxes are shipped to the USA. However, this season, only about 40 million cartons are expected to be shipped from Chile, a 20 percent decrease.
Chilean blueberry imports should provide refrigerated haulers with more normal volume and possibily better quality following a period in which volumes and quality were affected by rains. Decent imported arrivals of blueberries from Chile should continue until starting a decline in February. However, arrivals will continue, although in much lighter volume, through the first half of April.
Chilean kiwifruit imports will begin arriving in April.
Chile is the world’s largest exporter of fresh grapes (29%) and plums (23%). It is the second largest exporter of avocados (16%).
As a southern hemisphere country, Chile’s growing seasons run counter to the growing seasons of countries in the northern hemisphere. Chile can thus supply the highest quality fresh fruits and vegetables to northern hemisphere countries during their winter months.