Alejandro García-Huidobro (Prize): "We need inclusive governance and market diversification to face the future"
During the recent Global Cherry Summit held in Chile, Alejandro García-Huidobro – founder and CEO of Prize, one of the country’s leading cherry exporters – called on the entire sector to work in synergy to effectively face the challenges of the 2025/26 season.
In an interview with the Frutas de Chile association, García-Huidobro emphasized that the future of Chile’s cherry industry depends on a shared strategy that includes all players in the supply chain, from growers to exporters.
“It is essential to focus on fruit varieties that generate less value. Success will depend on the industry's ability to present a united front: the decisions we make – which must be dynamic – will only be effective if supported by proper representation and concrete goals,” he said.
Looking ahead to the next season, García-Huidobro stressed the need to overcome individualistic dynamics in favor of collective action: “We are facing a real ‘prisoner’s dilemma’. If we cooperate on elements such as size standards or quality benchmarks, it will be a sacrifice for everyone, but it will put us in a much stronger position.”
For this reason, he advocates for a new governance structure for the Chilean Cherry Committee that fully includes producers as well as exporters: “Only in this way can we reach 100% of the sector and make truly effective and shared decisions.”
According to Prize's CEO, the 2025/26 season will feature more moderate growth compared to previous years. His company has in fact decided not to further expand the cherry-growing area, which today represents less than 15% of the production portfolio.
“We have no new orchards coming in, so our growth will follow the industry average, around 6%. Five years ago, we started a diversification strategy toward other countries, and today we can face the future with peace of mind and optimism.”
Despite the centrality of the Chinese market – which currently absorbs the bulk of Chilean exports – García-Huidobro believes that gradual diversification is both possible and necessary: “If we do a good job, we could reduce China’s share to 80% (about €75 million in estimated value) over the next five years. The issue is that growth has been too fast: the industry’s volumes have increased by 50%.”
This growth has highlighted logistical and quality weaknesses, but also untapped potential: “If we had maintained consistent quality and logistics standards with 80 million boxes exported (about 36 million kg), we would be talking about a success today. The positive side? The solutions are in our hands.”
Text and image source: fruitnet.com
24 Dec 2024
As this year comes to a close, the Cherry Times team would like to extend a warm thank you to all our readers, who continue to enthusiastically support our editorial journey dedicated to the wonderful world of cherries and their supply chain.
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