Logistics keep Chilean cherries sweet 
2019-12-17
Chartered flights carrying Chilean cherries have arrived at the central China air hub of Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province, where the fruits are distributed to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other second-tier cities.
Chilean cherries were transported by regular passenger and cargo flights with transits to China, spending more than 100 hours on a single trip. The high logistics cost made the exotic fruit expensive on the Chinese market. With chartered flights, it reaches its destination in 30 hours.
The logistics efficiency has been further boosted by the entry port of Zhengzhou, which offers fast-track Customs clearance for fruit imports, allowing Chinese Customers access to fresh Chilean cherries, said Huang Xianhua, deputy secretary-general of the fruit branch of the China Chamber of Commerce of Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-Products.
“The company tested two chartered flights in 2014 and now the number of chartered flights has reached 140,” said Huang, who is also the general manager of the Shanghai Oheng Import & Export Co Ltd.
The Fushun Fruit SpA has been exporting Chilean cherries to China for three years. Alonso Xu, general manager of the company, said the company’s total export volume is expected to reach 1,000 tons this year.
He attributed the swift trade to the China-Chile Free Trade Agreement, which came into effect in 2006, and the upgraded version of the agreement which became effective in March this year, granting Chilean cherries zero-tariff market access to China.
At a fruit stall in Zhengzhou, Chilean cherries are priced at 40 yuan (US$5.7) per kilo, compared with more than 200 yuan per kilo two years ago.
On a cherry plantation owned by Nativa Foods, 50km from Chile’s capital Santiago, cherry trees are basking in the hot sun. Workers can be seen hand-picking cherries from branches. The 30-hectare plantation produces 150 to 200 tons of cherries each year, with 95 percent of the output exported to the Chinese market.
“China’s growing demand for Chilean cherries has improved the quality of life of people in cherry producing areas in Chile,” said Cristian Tagle, president of the Cherries Committee of the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association.
