Washington Growers Expand Into Chile
October 30, 2012 Two of the largest fruit producers in the Wenatchee, WA, region have joined together to buy a major stake in a group of South American apple and cherry orchards.
Gebbers Farms of Brewster and Chelan Fruit Cooperative of Chelan announced they have bought a 50% interest in four fruit-growing companies in Chile. The purchase will result in a new company called Chilean South Apples, or CHISA.
The venture’s goal is to offer a year-round supply of high-quality apples to fruit markets in the U.S., Asia, Canada, Russia, the Middle East, the United Kingdom, and Latin America, said Reggie Collins, CEO of Chelan Fruit Cooperative.
The four Chilean fruit companies work a combined 1,700 acres of apples and cherry orchards, as well as operating packing, nursery, and sales offices. CHISA executives estimate the new company will export 1.2 million boxes of tree fruit during the next harvest.
Chile’s location in the Southern Hemisphere means CHISA will harvest fruit during a six-month period that offsets cherry and apple harvest in the U.S., said Collins. That means the new company will deliver fresh cherries to the Northern Hemisphere in December and supply some varieties of apples during months when they are least available from U.S. orchards.
Wenatchee-based Stemilt Growers, one of the world’s largest non-citrus fruit companies, began Chilean fruit operations in 1999 but has since reduced their business there to a small cherry-growing operation, said Stemilt spokesman Roger Pepperl.
For Gebbers and Chelan Fruit, partnership with the Chilean growers began several years ago, said Collins. Since then, the partnership “has deepened as we’ve continued to work closely together to share knowledge,” he said.
The CHISA partners have developed a $30 million business plan for a series of Chilean fruit-growing projects, including extensive plantings of new apple varieties, new plantings of cherries, and expansion of packing, nursery, and cold storage operations.
Francisco Prat, longtime manager of the Chilean operations, will become CHISA’s general manager and Dan Tarbert of Gebbers Farms will be the new company’s chief financial officer. A board of directors composed of Collins, Cass Gebbers, and two Chilean fruit executives will oversee the new company’s operations.
Chelan Fruit Cooperative is a major packer of apples, pears, and cherries and is owned by 270 grower-members. With more than 5,000 acres of orchards, the family-owned Gebbers Farms operates one of the largest contiguous apple orchards in the world (they are Number Two on American/Western Fruit Grower’s most recent Top Growers list).
Both companies market their fruit through Chelan Fresh Marketing using Trout, Chelan Fresh, and Danny Boy labels, among others. Chelan Fresh Marketing supplies about 15 million boxes of apples, pears, and cherries to markets worldwide, according to the companies.
Subscribe Today For
