Chile's Economy
Fruit, Wine and Salmon
How Chile built export industries beyond copper, including off-season fruit for northern markets, wine and farmed salmon, and their environmental costs.
Chile built exports beyond copper.
Fruit
- Chile’s seasons are opposite to the northern hemisphere, so it sells off-season fruit.
- Cherries, grapes and blueberries.
Wine
Chile’s wine industry grew into a major exporter.
Salmon
- Chile became the world’s second largest farmed salmon producer, after Norway.
- Fundación Chile helped launch the industry in the 1980s.
Environmental costs
- Water scarcity from farming in dry areas.
- Salmon disease outbreaks, like the ISA virus in 2007, and antibiotic use.
Economics
Diversification reduces dependence on copper.
The winter grapes
Supermarkets in Europe stock Chilean grapes in January, when local grapes are out of season.
Thinking Chile exports only copper
Fruit, wine and salmon are big too.
Key takeaways
- Chile sells off-season fruit.
- Wine is a major export.
- Chile is the second largest farmed salmon producer.
- Water and disease are concerns.
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