China, Mexico and the United Kingdom have become the three main importers of this dried fruit, considering a total of 81 destinations.
Chilean prunes exports, during 2022, reached US$ 256 million, equivalent to 67,000 metric tons (MT).
In total, 81 countries received this dehydrated fruit, the main destinations being China, Mexico, the United Kingdom, the United States, Poland, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Spain and the Netherlands, considering the ranking of the top 10.
This is indicated by the Office of Agrarian Studies and Policies (Odepa), an agency under the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture, referring to one of the most complete foods on the planet, since it provides cardiovascular, bone, and nutritional benefits, among many others.
Regarding the first three, China, which is also a strong importer of fresh plums, received 11,582 MT (US$36.5 million); Mexico obtained 6,677 MT (US$24.4 million) and the United Kingdom 5,295 MT (US$20.7 million).
Thanks to a surface cultivated with European plum that reaches 12,550 hectares, mainly located in the VI Region -rich fruit area located a few kilometers south of its capital, Santiago-, Chile is capable of a total production of plums of around 100,000 Annual Metric Tons (MT), “of which 2/3 are used for prunes, which after the drying process go to a subsequent tenderization process after their natural condition, in containers according to customer requirements, direct to retail or in bulk, delivering a tremendously diversified end product that is constant in quality over time,” says the executive director of Chileprunes, Pedro Acuña.
Chileprunes is the Association of Prunes Processors and Exporters of Chile, a union founded in 2005, and which now brings together more than 70% of prunes exports.