Chile-headquartered Hortifrut, a leading berry company, is beginning to supply markets with fruit from two emerging South American supply countries, Colombia and Ecuador.
Gustavo Salinas, Director of Operations of Hortifrut, tells Fresh Fruit Portal that the company carried out the first exports of blueberries from Ecuador a month ago. The fruit shares the same varieties as Peru.
The company currently has 50 hectares of blueberries newly planted in Ecuador, with the 2022-23 season being its first harvest, with around 600 tons of exports expected.
The Colombian operation is initially focused on the sales of fruit from proprietary farms and third-party growers in the local Colombian market. However, it expects to be able to export fruit to international markets in the future.
"Currently, Hortifrut has 32 hectares newly planted in Colombia and expects to market approximately 400 tons during the 2022-23 season," says Salinas.
The company distributes fruit from 9,800 hectares between its own production, alliances and third party producers. During the period of July 2021 to June 2022, the company recorded sales of US$901 million. This represents an almost 10% increase year-on-year.
The current distribution by market has North America with 58% of exports, Europe with 23%, South America at 13% and Asia and Others with 5%.
In terms of objectives, Hortifrut has an integrated global model from varietal development to the consumer and seeks to offer new and unique consumption experiences by developing superior varieties.
11/11/2022
