A challenging season for Chilean cherry growers, marked by low returns, worsened when over 1,300 containers of fruit had to be destroyed following a delayed arrival at the Chinese port of Nansha.

More than $120 million worth of cherries remained at sea for 52 days, and upon arrival, Chinese authorities ordered the entire shipment destroyed, marking the worst disaster in the history of the Chilean cherry industry.

Manuel José Alcaino, president of Decofrut, told Freshfruitportal.com that despite the severity of the situation, it presents an opportunity for the industry to learn.

"This is an isolated event that has never happened before but could happen again. So, for insurance purposes, I believe that regulations should be clearer in advance," Alcaino said.

He criticized the inspection process conducted by Chinese customs, stating, "Unfortunately, it has negatively impacted the entire process because I believe some of that fruit could have been saved if we had reacted in time."

“If they had made a good program and quickly assessed the situation, everything could have been inspected and sorted within three to five days," he added.

However, Alcaino acknowledged that given the circumstances, it was ultimately beneficial that the fruit did not enter the market due to its poor condition.

"In the long term, it is better for the industry that this fruit was not sold. But if the situation had been handled well and quickly, some lots could have been sold at reasonable prices," he said.

He explained that exporters had access to counter samples, showing that some varieties performed well while others did not.

He added that “to have done an intelligent sampling, oriented to those varieties with more prospects, with the newest harvest dates, could have directed the inspection to those lots that would have had more potential for good condition.”

Kordia cherries have the best post-harvest performance, while Regina has a shorter shelf life. Some recently harvested Santina lots were also included in the shipment.

Regarding Maersk Saltoro, he said one of the main lessons learned is “to organize and regulate insurance premiums because if this happens again, insurance must be taken intelligently, foreseeing this kind of situation.”

He added another point related to the management of Frutas de Chile. While acknowledging the leadership efforts and the challenges involved, Alcaino said, "It is necessary to lead a joint negotiation with the Chilean government to establish a more efficient management protocol than what was in place this time."

On another note, he mentioned that some in the industry have considered repurposing the damaged fruit as compost due to the shipment's massive size.

This has been done before in Philadelphia, where the agricultural sector is significant, and farmers use fruit as fertilizer. However, the scale of what was done in the U.S. was much smaller.

Diversifying markets 

Given the challenges in China, Chilean cherry growers may need to consider alternative markets to diversify their options.

Alcaino said the only market that could take a significant amount of fruit is the United States. With shorter transit times (12 to 15 days), it is a favorable option compared, for example, to Europe, where transit times are around 30 days. 

“The U.S. is a market that we have left aside for a long time because the prices paid in China were so exorbitant compared to what could be obtained in the U.S. that the benefit was tremendous,” he said. 

Despite this, he said it is a market with enormous potential “that can eat around 20 million boxes. This will not happen overnight; it will take 4 or 5 years of hard work and compliance."

He added that attractive retail dates “would allow for some interesting programs, such as Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day, Valentine's Day, and the Super Bowl.”

"Since the Chinese market is no longer what it used to be, selling in the United States at returning prices has become a more reasonable option,” he said.