| Did you know? |
- Chile and China have successfully concluded negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement, which will be signed by Presidents Ricardo Lagos and Hu Jintao at the next APEC meeting (November 16 and 17).
- Starting on the first day of its entry into force, 92% of Chilean exports will enter China free of tariffs. The accord is China’s first FTA with a Latin American country.
- The 2005 Corruption Perceptions Index prepared by Transparency International again rated Chile as the least corrupt country in Latin America. Chile stood at position 21, ahead of Japan, Spain and Great Britain.
- In October, Chile and the European Union signed an accord which will permit the airlines of both parties to operate between Chile and any EU member State.
- 'Comité de Paltas Hass de Chile' hold the licence for the government's '5 a Day' campaign, where half a medium sized Hass Avocado counts as one portion, which is supported by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF UK).
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On the 10th of December, the prestigious magazine ‘The Grocer’ is publishing an interesting report about Chile and some of its most key growth areas into the food and drink industry.
Some of journalist Liz Hamson’s points are outlined below:
Chile has wowed the UK market with its wine for years. But did you know that its second biggest export to the UK was table grapes? Or that one of its major growth sectors was hass avocados?
1.- Chile, the brand: Organisations like ProChile, at the Chilean Embassy in London, ‘Wines of Chile’ and the exporters’ association, Asoex, are making more noise about the unique properties that make Chilean food and drinks - particularly its fresh produce and wine - consistently high quality. The Chilean Embassy’s commercial attaché Luis Montero talks about the new drive to promote Chilean food in UK supermarkets and efforts to encourage more tourists to visit Chile.
2.- Wine: after a bit of a stutter in the late 90s, Chilean wines have enjoyed a huge growth spurt over the past few years, putting names like Concha y Toro’s Casillero del Diablo and Errázuriz firmly on the wine map. But success comes at a price - and with the supermarkets that means low price. So what do the big wineries make of the supermarkets’ price agenda, how are their efforts to push the price point up going and how are they using innovation to drive the category?
3.- Olive oil: The old adage that if you’re a wine producing country, you’re also an olive oil producing country doesn’t quite hold as far as Chilean exports of olive oil go, but producers are confident that they can carve a niche for themselves in the UK.
4.- Fresh produce: Citrus has been a major export, but oranges are not the only fruit. Blueberries, walnuts and avocados have been a big success story in the UK for Chilean producers this year. Top producers reveal why they are shifting their focus from the US to the UK as a growth market - and identify the produce they think are poised for great things.
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Brand New Promotional Campaign for Chilean Hass Avocados
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The Chilean Avocado Association is launching its first ever promotional campaign in the UK to drive the consumption of Hass avocados. Activity for the campaign includes 1,600,000 free in-pack recipe and information booklets, which will be given away at the main British retailers this autumn, as well as trolley posters, in-store TV, tastings and a consumer PR campaign.
It is estimated that there will be a crop volume as high as 175,000 tonnes of Chilean Hass avocados this year, with 4,343 tonnes destined for export to the UK, which is nearly double the amount compared to last year.
Avocado shopper research, commissioned by the ‘Comité de Paltas Hass de Chile’, revealed that more than 75% of the UK population has not bought an avocado in the last year, yet the avocado category is one of the fastest growing categories in the fresh produce sector, with a 20+% increase on last year. The Comité want to maximise this growth potential by focusing their efforts on increasing demand for avocados in the UK market.
Adolfo OchagavÍa, General Manager of ‘Comité de Paltas Hass de Chile’, says; "This is our first promotional campaign in the UK and one that we hope to run in subsequent years. There is a huge opportunity to drive consumption of avocados here with penetration at only 23.4% currently."
Research also revealed that UK consumers do not understand the health benefits of avocados, believing they are high in cholesterol and very fattening. This is not the case, as nutritional research has shown, avocados contain 0% cholesterol and an average serving provides just 138 calories.
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A new consumer wine show came to the trendy Islington area on north London at the end of October. Over four days at the Business Design Centre, some 12,000 keen wine drinkers were able to sample wines from all over the world and improve their knowledge. One of the largest exhibitors was Wines of Chile and it was one of the most popular too. Each day eight different Chilean wineries showed a range of their top premium wines and consumers were impressed by the wide range of styles and very high quality coming from Chile these days. In addition to the Wines of Chile stand, the famous TV wine expert Oz Clarke gave a tutored talk on Chile and its wines in the special 'Meet the Experts' theatre.
Chilean wines continue to make great progress on the UK market and its share has risen to 7% - its highest ever. If current trends continue it will not be long before Chile's sales in the UK overtake those of Spain to reach 6th place in the country share league.
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Chile - UK Advance in Science Cooperation
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"The United Kingdom, and the European Union are well aware that Chile’s priority for the coming ten years is to advance cooperation in science and technology and this was the main purpose of the meeting with Foreign Secretary Jack Straw", revealed Chilean Foreign Affairs Minister Ignacio Walker in London. Mr. Walker spent fifty minutes with Foreign Secretary Straw following on a meeting held the second week of October between Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chilean President Ricardo Lagos who during his official visit to Britain was also received by the Queen in Buckingham Palace.
"Our heads of government committed us to advance in the fields of science and technology, since we have a free trade, political and cooperation association agreement with the European Union, which opens a whole new area of possibilities for our universities research and development areas", said Mr. Walker. Further on he underlined the excellent political, trade and diplomatic relations with Britain, which last year totalled US$ 1.2 billion in bilateral trade.
Mercopress.com, October 18
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On October 23, Saint Peter’s Square was colored red, white and blue. Flags waved in the hands of the more than 7,000 Chilean pilgrims who had come to the Vatican to participate in the canonization ceremony for Chile’s second saint, Jesuit priest Alberto Hurtado. Their enthusiasm was so enormous that Pope Benedict XVI could not resist smiling each time he mentioned the saint’s name, due to the crowd’s immense ovations.
In his homily, delivered in Spanish, Benedict XVI recalled the Jesuit’s work: "He founded the ‘Hogar de Cristo’ for the homeless and the most needy, offering them a family-like atmosphere, full of human warmth. In his ministry as a priest, he was known for his simplicity and his availability to others, serving as a living image of the Master, ‘mild and humble of heart’. At the end of his days, amid the acute pains of his illness, he still found the strength to repeat: ‘Happy, Lord, happy’, expressing the joyfulness in which he always lived."
The massive Chilean delegation was headed by President Ricardo Lagos and his wife, Luisa Durán, as well as the presidents of the Senate, Chamber of Deputies and Supreme Court. It included prominent figures from the social, business, academic and cultural worlds and all parts of the political spectrum, as well as some special guests: beneficiaries of the Hogar de Cristo, whom Father Hurtado used to call his patroncitos or "little bosses".
After the canonization, the Pope held a private audience with President Lagos. "I told him about the appreciation of all Chileans for what had happened today, and I also took the liberty of informing him that I am certain we would receive him with great enthusiasm and affection if he visits Chile," reported the President. This might be a possibility in 2007, when Pope Benedict XVI attends the gathering of CELAM, the Latin American bishops’ conference, in Brazil.
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