New route cuts 10 days from Chile-India shipping
The head of Indian produce company IG International has hailed a new faster shipping route from Chile to Mumbai as extremely significant for imports.
The new 45-day route from Valparaiso kicks off today (March 22) with consignments of apples and stone fruit bound for the port of Nhava Sheva in India.
The CMA CGM weekly service is 10 days faster than the previous route, taking 45 days instead of 55 with a layover in Hong Kong.
IG International director Tarun Arora cites Chile as the most important country in the Southern Hmisphere for fruit exports.
"For us it means the product comes earlier. In some cases last year, we found transit was taking around 55 days so a 10-day reduction is a big thing, a very significant development for us," he tells www.freshfruitportl.com.
"Now we can do a lot more Chilean kiwifruit, more Chilean grapes and more Chilean stonefruit, including plums which is great because previously many shippers were not very comfortable shipping over a 55-day period.
"People might now be more comfortable shipping on a 45 day route - 10 days does actually make a significant difference, especially for the products coming in."
The 10-day reduction also means all parties get paid quicker and, although Chilean exporters already provide high quality produce, Arora is pleased that freshness will be further improved.
"Most of the Chilean companies are very strong in packaging so we don't see big issues anyhow but it's always good because the fresher the product, the better it tastes.
"We will take advantage of the new route immediately especially starting with stone fruit and apples. In another couple of weeks we will also be starting with kiwifruit as well.
"Chile is a very important supplier for us because as soon as the northern hemisphere is finishing up on its crop, we then become dependent on Chile as most other South American sources, like Argentina and Brazil, are vastly populated so they have very strong domestic demand."
In the apple category, Arora says Chile is a solid supplier of Red Delicious and Royal Gala in particular.
"Over the last ten years, we have been developing the value of exports from Chile and now I would say it's the most important supplier, even more than South Africa.
"Currently were not exporting any produce to Chile because there is not much from India that we have to offer which is of interest and can take the 55 days (or now 45 days) transit so currently it's just imports that we are looking at from Chile."
Photo: www.shutterstock.com
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