Red, delectable and nutritive Cherries from Chile promoted for the first time in India. Mr Juan Angulo M, Ambassador of Chile in India launches the Generic Promotional Campaign.

This is the perfect time of year to celebrate your Christmas and New Year with red, juicy and nutritious cherries from Chile. The Chilean Cherry Committee of the Chilean Fruit Exporters’ Association (ASOEX), in conjunction with the Chilean Embassy in India and the Chilean Trade Commission – ProChill Office, has launched the first general publicity campaign in India to provide these delightful fruits to the discerning health-conscious Indian consumers.

To mark this mega launch Ambassador of Chile to India, Mr Juan Angulo M., inaugurated a promotion campaign at Foodhall, in New Delhi. The retailer had set up an attractive display of cherries from Chile and reported good sales.

Commenting on the occasion, Ambassador Angulo said, “The Chilean cherries are valued for their flavor and superior quality and the country is one of the largest exporters of cherries in the world. The fantastic taste of the juicy, sweet pulp of these cherries are loved by consumers across the world and I am delighted to see them in India.”

Speaking to the media via a video call, Mr Charif Christian Carvajal M., Director of Marketing Europe and Asia, ASOEX remarked “The Chilean Cherry Committee of ASOEX is delighted to be promoting for the very first time  cherries from Chile to India. The broad Pacific Ocean and the Andes Mountains create a paradise for cherry production and the unique weather conditions stimulate the growth of cherries. The differences between temperatures during the day and at night are particularly helpful for bringing out the wholesome flavours of Chilean cherries and assuring their good size and intense red colour. This season Chile is expected to export more than 316 thousand tons of fresh cherries worldwide, which represents a 38% increase in regards to the previous year.”

Speaking on the India campaign for Chilean Cherries, Mr Sumit Saran, In-Country Marketing Representative remarked, “We foresee the immense potential of Chilean Cherries in India. Production of Cherry in Chile is 100% counter-seasonal to Indian cherry production that happens in June/July. Chilean cherries will be in the market in December and January. It is a perfect time for fruit like Cherries, as demand is high for Christmas, New Year and the festive period of Pongal, Valentine Day etc. Our campaign is called ‘Cherry-sh Every Moment‘ and we have chalked out an extensive retail strategy to take this delicious fruit to discerning Indian consumers across the country. These cherries will be available both with retail fruit sellers and e-commerce platforms,” Saran added.

An exporter has finished its first test shipment via air. If the second test shipment also concludes successfully, larger volumes will be sent to Mumbai Airport. The next challenge is finding a way to ship these cherries via sea, which means they will take 43 days to reach their destination.
Saurabh Tanwar, CEO of Fruitways Chile, Indian fruit importer, stated they received interest from India for Chilean cherries for the first time. “The Chilean harvest of cherries started in the middle of November in the south of Chile. India always shows its appreciation and so far has welcomed Chilean cherries by air, mostly.

“As Fruitways Chile we have the experience in the export of fruits like apples, kiwis and avocados as well. However, cherries are also in demand by our Indian customers. This has led to our clients requesting cherries from Chile from us, which proved to be a new challenge for us. Most of the Chilean cherries are moved to China via sea, using a special shipping line called the Cherries Express. For us it was important to send the first trial shipments out quickly, so we’ve decided to use airfreight for a potential shipment.”

“The very first shipment of cherries was exported to Mumbai Airport on the 1st of December, 2020 and we are happy to announce that this test shipment was received well by our client.”

The Chilean Cherry Committee of the Chilean Fruit Exporters’ Association (ASOEX), in conjunction with the Chilean Embassy in India and the Chilean Trade Commission – ProChill Office, has launched the first general publicity campaign in India to provide these delightful fruits to the discerning health-conscious Indian consumers.

To mark this mega launch Ambassador of Chile to India, Mr Juan Angulo M., inaugurated a promotion campaign at Foodhall, in New Delhi. The retailer had set up an attractive display of Chilean Cherries and reported good sales.
Commenting on the occasion, Ambassador Angulo said, “The Chilean cherries are valued for their flavor and superior quality and the country is one of the largest exporters of cherries in the world. The fantastic taste of the juicy, sweet pulp of these cherries are loved by consumers across the world and I am delighted to see them in India.”

Speaking on the India campaign for Chilean Cherries, Mr Sumit Saran, In-Country Marketing Representative remarked, “We foresee the immense potential of Chilean Cherries in India. Production of Cherry in Chile is 100% counter-seasonal to Indian cherry production that happens in June/July. Chilean cherries will be in the market in December and January. It is a perfect time for fruit like Cherries, as demand is high for Christmas, New Year and the festive period of Pongal, Valentine Day etc. Our campaign is called ‘Cherry-sh Every Moment‘ and we have chalked out an extensive retail strategy to take this delicious fruit to discerning Indian consumers across the country. These cherries will be available both with retail fruit sellers and e-commerce platforms,” Saran added.

An exporter has finished its first test shipment via air. If the second test shipment also concludes successfully, larger volumes will be sent to Mumbai Airport. The next challenge is finding a way to ship these cherries via sea, which means they will take 43 days to reach their destination.
Saurabh Tanwar, CEO of Fruitways Chile, Indian fruit importer, stated they received interest from India for Chilean cherries for the first time. “The Chilean harvest of cherries started in the middle of November in the south of Chile. India always shows its appreciation and so far has welcomed Chilean cherries by air, mostly.

“As Fruitways Chile we have the experience in the export of fruits like apples, kiwis and avocados as well. However, cherries are also in demand by our Indian customers. This has led to our clients requesting cherries from Chile from us, which proved to be a new challenge for us. Most of the Chilean cherries are moved to China via sea, using a special shipping line called the Cherries Express. For us it was important to send the first trial shipments out quickly, so we’ve decided to use airfreight for a potential shipment.”

“The very first shipment of cherries was exported to Mumbai Airport on the 1st of December, 2020 and we are happy to announce that this test shipment was received well by our client.”

Although the airfreight was a great solution to get the test shipments out quickly, Tanwar hopes they’ll be able to send Chilean cherries to India via sea in the future: “We are working in technical details to achieve almost impossible job to send the cherries to Indian by sea, which sounds challenging and it is. Our barrier will be the long transit to India, which will take about 43 days. We’re working to achieve this impossible task of cherries to be received by sea to our Indian customer. We are not the only and first one to send shipments via sea, but we could be the next in line. In the end, I am happy that our cherries are received well by our Indian customer.”