As one of Chile's top pomegranate-growing zones, Copiapó was devastated by floods and landslides in 2015. But according to Marcelo Riquelme of Unifrutti, whose company accounts for 90% of production in the Atacama region, production bounced back this year with exceptional size and color. 

Riquelme said last year Unifrutti lost between 1,000-1,500 metric tons (MT) of pomegranates to the disaster, representing around 25-30% of production in the area.

"Last year we couldn't get the fruit that was ready. The landslide caught us in the second week of packing, which meant we couldn't pack the estimated number of boxes," the plant manager told www.freshfruitportal.com.

The story is very different in 2016, with Unifrutti's 195 hectares in Copiapó having just finished off a season of full production, likely in the vicinity of 700,000 boxes.

The last containers were sent to the U.S. on May 20.

"This year we've had really good quality, good sizes and an intense color in our fruit. It's been a spectacular season and we expect to see that in the returns," he said.

He added pomegranates were a more profitable crop six years ago, but they've been complicated by commercial issues and seasonality.

For this reason, he emphasized quality was crucial in a "depressed" pomegranate market.

"If you combine poor quality fruit with poor prices, the business is not profitable," he said.

"This year with the Wonderful variety we managed to get 60% of our production in the segment 'Extra Fancy', which is the best priced in the markets."

Related story: Pomegranate demand explodes, keeps up with Peruvian volume surge

Editor's Note: Fuerza Atacama - After the flood, a view from the mud

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