Envy apples hit Chilean supermarket shelves
Grower Agrícola San Clemente has been exporting the branded variety since last year, but now it also aims to bolster demand closer to home in Chile.
The Envy apple has made a splash in global markets in recent years, with the fruit even reaching the enviable milestone of beating out all other items in one California store earlier this year.
Originally from New Zealand and with plantings in the Northern Hemisphere too, production has grown and Chile has joined the party.
San Clemente is the licensed grower of the brand in the South American country, and last week the group celebrated the fruit's launch in the domestic market at Walmart subsidiary chain Lider.
At the launch, San Clemente's executive president Luis Chadwick told www.freshfruitportal.com his was the only company in South America with a license for the variety.
He said the company had so far shipped to markets such as the U.S. and Asia.
"It's logical that all our products be in the Chilean market. It is a very innovative apple and we want Chilean consumers to be able to enjoy it," he said.
The company has around 105 hectares of the apple planted in Curicó, Talca and Angol, and testing continues to see which areas are best suited for Envy.
"I think Angol would be the best zone for the cold. We are seeing more and more production moving to that area and in fact our company has the greatest development of apples in the sector," he said.
San Clemente is growing apples on around 500 hectares in Angol, with plans to incorporate 300 hectares more in the next two to three years. Currently, 50 of plantings in the zone are dedicated to Envy.
Chadwick added the yield per hectare was currently 40-50 metric tons (MT) per hectare, but once trees are mature, in 2018 that figure could reach 70MT/ha.
The executive said 4,000 boxes would go to the local market through Walmart's supermarket chains, to be distributed throughout the country.
In 2017, San Clemente plans to sell between 80,000-100,000 boxes in the domestic market.
"The Chilean consumer has evolved a lot. Years ago there existed the idea that the fruit sold in Chile was what was left over from exports, but what has happened in recent years is that there are supermarkets like this one that delivers an offering of top quality export fruit, and people are starting to recognize that and are paying a bit more as well," he says.