Chile achieves important progress in exports of seafood to Malaysia

ProChile is celebrating a significant milestone in seafood exports to Malaysia. Despite the considerable distance between Chile and this Asian country, advances in technology and packaging techniques, together with new air cargo routes, have made it possible to import fresh salmon and trout from Santiago to Kuala Lumpur in just five to six days.

Importer “C-Food Portions” began weekly shipments of fresh Chilean Atlantic salmon in March 2024, marking a step forward in this new commercial connection. The company AquaChile joined as the first Chilean exporter willing to try this route together with them.

Ana Belén Bueno, commercial representative of ProChile in Malaysia, commented that the result of the first test shipment was a success and highlighted the excellent condition in which the fresh salmon arrived.

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“This milestone is a great advance for Chilean exports and will position Chile on the map of the final consumer as one of the main producers of seafood,” Bueno said. “With this level of trust in Chile as a source of premium seafood, we expect consumption of frozen Chilean seafood to also increase.”

Although most Malaysian consumers are still unaware that much of the frozen salmon they consume comes from Chile, Bueno highlighted the importance of joining efforts by ProChile and importers to persistently promote Chilean seafood products consistently.

According to figures from the ProChile Market Intelligence Department with data from the National Customs Service, exports of salmon and trout from Chile to Malaysia reached US$21 million in 2023. This success lays a solid foundation for future increases in salmon exports. Chilean seafood products towards this expanding Asian market.