After a new approach yielded better returns for Copefrut's summer program, and to the benefit of its suppliers as well, initiatives are in the works to raise value for the upcoming kiwifruit and apple seasons. Whether it's through better segmentation for cherry quality, more pre-ripening for other stonefruit crops or a new joint venture for kiwifruit marketing, commercial director Rene Wunkhaus says a "repositioning" is underway.

"I think a lot of what has happened to us as an industry is that we’ve focused on volume, volume, volume, and we haven’t really focused on quality," says Wunkhaus from the company's headquarters in Curicó, discussing challenges that have been of particular importance for the apple and kiwifruit sectors.

The executive likens a tree to a machine which, depending on its position and conditions, can only produce so much energy, and in his opinion many Chilean growers are putting that into kilos rather than the taste or appearance-based attributes that yield the top prices abroad.

"The solar panels are the leaves, and depending on where you are you’re able to produce a certain amount of energy, and that ends up being dry matter," he says.

Rene Wunkhaus

"If you divide that dry matter over more fruit you have less dry matter per fruit and that affects the sweetness and size. If you're going to produce more tons, the fruit won't be as big on average.

"In the case of apples you have to produce a fruit with color, as the ones without color on the inside of the tree aren't worth anything."

He says this change of emphasis is about "flicking the switch" across all aspects of the industry, and to emphasize this Copefrut recently invited some of its cherry grower suppliers on a visit to China to see the effects on value of growing the best quality fruit possible.

However, Copefrut's vision is not just about explaining the benefits to growers but combining improved quality with more targeted marketing overseas.

"We provide an export service that has to be competitive. We have to be the best at the national level and use the tools we have to deliver the best returns to the growers," he says.

The most clearest alignment with this vision, emboldened by a corporate restructuring in April 2014 with Andrés Fuenzalida at the helm as managing director, has been Copefrut's new protocol for cherries.

"That’s why we adopted a new system of segmentation, which was implemented in November," he says.

"With this new system of segmentation, going together with a marketing plan, it means every segment in the distribution of fruit has its own label and that it goes into the market with its best price.

"Copefrut worked with three segments in the past and we opened it to five...our big problem was the inconsistency of the labels – you’d have it on a carton of fruit that was very good, as well as on another that was just regular."

The strategy could not have come at a better time. He says in general 2015-16 was a very good season for Chilean cherries.

"Customers in China found the fruit was one of the best in the last 15 years taste-wise, quality-wise, condition-wise," he says, adding the company has nine sorting machines across its different packhouses, and enlisted the services of an external advisor for recommendations on the label segregation system.

"I personally think this is a better way to work out which fruit goes to which market."

A new focus for stonefruit

Wunkhaus says Copefrut has also ramped up efforts to bring better peaches, nectarines and plums to overseas markets, taking extra care when it comes to eating quality.

"With these fruits we mainly go to the United States and Asia, and the issue of flavor is important," he says.

"We also work on this issue with our customers, with supermarkets, sending our best products to these customers so we see repeat purchases from the final consumers."

Wunkhaus admits the company is behind when it comes to varieties in these three fruits, but it has been trialing new cultivars and recognizes new variety investment is one of the tasks ahead.

"For us we have started working on getting new varieties for all species - peaches, nectarines, plums, cherries, kiwifruit, apples, pears - and we have contracted an external consultant so that the learning process can be quicker.

"Additionally in stonefruit, what we have fomented more is pre-ripening the fruit in Chile and offering the product to different customers in the United States, and we've had good results."

This is a strategy that works in markets closer to home like the United States and also Brazil, but for China as the voyage is longer the fruit ripens en route.

Wunkhaus says Chilean stonefruit did very well in the United States on the whole this past season, with the exception of the last quarter when volume put the strain on wholesale markets; however, as Copefrut was mostly involved in pre-ripening with direct supermarket programs, it was buffered somewhat from these effects.

"We’ve been doing it for more than 10 years but this last year we put more emphasis on it, under the umbrella of how we can differentiate ourselves in the market."

Winter fruit revival

But what about kiwifruit and apples, the two major crops coming to the fore right now?

"With apples we’re also trying to see how we can differentiate in the market, and the apple can be a bit more difficult - it’s a bit more of a commodity," Wunkhaus says.

"Today we are doing more work on post-harvest so that or our apples and pears arrive without condition problems in the market. We’re more focused on that issue and conservation.

"We are doing adjustments in terms of what is a premium or fancy, but that’s more of an issue of marketing."

In kiwifruit he says Copefrut should learn from what New Zealand marketer Zespri does, but it's a "very slow" process.

"We lack the programs. There is a culture of ours and our clients to deliver a kiwifruit of the best eating quality, but that carries a risk because it’s a softer kiwifruit and that can be complicated," he says.

"It’s not so easy to be accompanied by your client, a service provider, to get the closest as you can to the supermarket and also have a commitment with the supermarket.

"There is a paradox or paradigm in a way that is happening in Chile’s kiwifruit business where possibly a large part of our sales are spot versus Zespri which is much more concerted and they know the rotation and manage a lot more data."

He highlights Zespri is much more able to reach supermarkets and customers directly.

"A lot of the time we are far from that and are lucky to reach the distribution center (DC). Zespri enters the supermarket and concerns itself with taking out the fruit that is overripe and it gets a lot more involved."

Copefrut has tried to reach supermarkets more directly with its kiwifruit in the past, but has often found it needs greater volume to meet retailers' expectations. For this reason and as part of its push to boost value, the company has started evaluating gold kiwifruit "very seriously" and has joined forces for marketing with other groups.

"In kiwifruit what we’re doing in looking for special programs is we joined together as four companies to do a joint venture with Frusan, Subsole, Copefrut and San Francisco Lo Garces, with support from the Chilean Kiwifruit Committee.

"We'll try together with a Chinese importer, Yidu, and try to emulate what Zespri does in China with some Chinese supermarkets."

He adds the joint venture was first discussed in January this year and finalized during Fruit Logistica in February.

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