If there is one phenomenon that defines the global market for dried plums over the last 15 years, it is the explosive growth of China as an importer. Data from the 13th Dried Plum Expo<\/strong> They are conclusive: from 2010 to 2025, Chinese imports of dried plums went from approximately 5,700 tons to more than 45,000 metric tons<\/strong>, which represents an increase of +540%<\/strong> in just three lustrums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The evolution of Chinese imports shows a growth curve that accelerates markedly from 2019-2020 onwards. The pre-pandemic period already showed an upward trend, but it was during and after the pandemic that this trend accelerated significantly. COVID-19<\/strong> when growth intensified extraordinarily. The reasons for this boom are multiple and they reinforce each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the pandemic, Chinese food processors took advantage of the restrictions to invest massively in machinery and technology<\/strong> of dried fruit processing. This modernization of the processing industry significantly increased the capacity to absorb larger volumes of imported raw materials and transform them into value-added products for the Chinese domestic market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same time, the health crisis raised awareness among Chinese consumers about healthy eating. Prunes, known for their digestive properties and high fiber, antioxidant, and vitamin content, perfectly met this new demand for snacks and functional foods. Chinese consumers embraced prunes not only as a luxury imported product but also as part of their everyday diet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another determining factor has been the Chinese government investment in marketing<\/strong> to increase the consumption of prunes among its population. This strategy, unusual in the context of imported products, reflects the State's interest in diversifying its citizens' diets and promoting the consumption of fruits with documented health benefits. Communication campaigns have reached hundreds of millions of consumers through digital platforms such as WeChat, Douyin, and Tmall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The question on the minds of the global industry is whether China can maintain this pace of import growth. Projections for 2025 and beyond remain positive, albeit with some caution. The existing consumer base, modernized processing infrastructure, and government support for healthy fruit consumption are factors that underpin continued growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, there are risk factors: the Chinese economic slowdown, potential trade tensions with supplier countries, and possible competition from domestic production. For Chile, the key lies in strengthening relationships with Chinese buyers, offering differentiated products, and establishing a presence on the digital channels where Chinese consumers make their purchasing decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In short, Chinese growth has been the main driver of the increase in global demand for prunes<\/strong> in the last decade. Without this phenomenon, the global market would have remained stagnant. For Chilean exporters, this represents a unique opportunity: the world's largest market, with the greatest capacity to absorb increasing volumes, is eager for the product that Chile produces better than anyone else.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" China's imports of dried plums have increased from 5,700 to over 45,000 tons in 15 years (+5,401 metric tons). The pandemic, investment in processing, and government marketing explain this extraordinary growth.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13158,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"","rank_math_focus_keyword":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exportacion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/portalciruelas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/portalciruelas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/portalciruelas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portalciruelas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portalciruelas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13133"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/portalciruelas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13159,"href":"https:\/\/portalciruelas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13133\/revisions\/13159"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portalciruelas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/portalciruelas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portalciruelas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portalciruelas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}From 5,700 to 45,000 Tons: Unprecedented Growth<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The COVID Effect: Investment and Healthy Awareness<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Role of the Chinese Government: State Marketing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Can this growth be sustained?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
China as the Engine of the Global Market<\/h3>\n\n\n\n