A new Chilean kiwi and apple exporter is expecting to sell between 300,000 and 500,000 cartons in its first season of business.

Exportadora del Sur director Patricio Toro told Freshfruitportal.com his export forecasts were ‘rather ambitious’ for the first year of business, in which products have been labeled under the brand XSur.

Former Copefrut executive Patricio Toro has started fresh with his own business Exportadora del Sur

The former Copefrut executive says the main market destination was Europe with a strengthening in the former Eastern bloc countries, while Asia and other emerging markets are on the way.

“Exportadora del Sur seeks to be a business that is integrated with growers to share information. We want to bring the markets to our growers,” he says

The company is based in the city of Curicó in Chile’s VII region, where Toro hopes to introduce more fruit species in the future, with potential for more business partners too.

Toro plans to promote the creation of a committee for apple growers, as he says the industry is not currently very profitable.

“We have serious problems with pesticide residues and with various things that we have to jointly address, and the way that has been found to solve this, with successful results, is committees. If everyone unites their efforts we will advance more quickly,” he said.

He says costs to independence and the crisis' lack of intensity are the main reasons why such a committee has not yet been formed.

“It pays to join forces when we are in crisis,” he says.

Toro explains that he left Copefrut after 20 years because he wanted to follow his own path and create an export company.

Source: www.freshfruitportal.com