Hortifrut S.A.

Hortifrut S.A. is a Chilean berry grower, marketer and distributor whose FY2025, the year ended 31 December 2025, produced US$1,215.0 million of income from operating activities and a net loss attributable to owners of US$77.7 million. It sold 189 million kg of fruit, held 4,210 hectares planted and counted 3,038 permanent plus 24,532 seasonal collaborators. The group is delisted from the Santiago Stock Exchange and majority-held by PSP Investments, and it is not a Fortune Global 500 company.

Industry Position

Hortifrut's position rests on berries rather than on fresh produce generally. FY2025 income from operating activities of US$1,215.0 million on 189 million kg sold was led by blueberries at US$745.7 million, raspberries at US$232.7 million, blackberries at US$74.0 million and cherries at US$21.3 million, on a total income base of US$1,227.1 million. The company describes itself as the world's largest blueberry producer and marketer and the second largest in the overall berry category.

Scale has to be read with the reporting basis in mind. The same company reported US$1,280.1 million of revenue and US$197.9 million of EBITDA for the twelve months of season T25/26, which ends on 30 June, against US$1,215.0 million of operating income and US$184 million of EBITDA for the calendar year 2025. The calendar year also closed with a net loss attributable to owners of US$77.7 million, so size in berries has not translated into profit.

Competitive Advantages

Owned production is the first advantage. At 31 December 2025 Hortifrut held 4,210 hectares planted, 2,355 owned and 1,854 leased, of which 4,043 hectares were in production, across eleven producing countries. The 'more than 10,000 hectares of own and joint-venture berry acreage' cited in third-party profiles overstates the disclosed total and is not published here.

The second advantage is the mix of plants it owns and sites it manages for others. The fresh segment runs 17 company-owned operations in Chile, Peru, Ecuador, China, Mexico, the Netherlands and Spain, and 31 further operations at third-party sites managed on location by Hortifrut teams in Chile, Mexico, the United States and four further countries. Value-added capacity is owned outright: six Vitafoods frozen plants in Chile with combined annual processing capacity of 33,500 metric tons.

Strategic Expansion

China is the main growth story. During 2025 the group planted more than 400 hectares with next-generation varieties, launched the Jolly Pop consumer brand and created Shaoxing Berry Co. Ltd as a joint venture held 50% through Asian Berries Ltd, signed in February 2025 with capital paid that September; it also runs the Honghe Jiayu Agriculture joint venture. Chinese volumes move on the Peruvian Port of Chancay route, cutting transit to 23 days for the first blueberry shipment on 2 January 2025.

Expansion elsewhere is brand- and genetics-led. Hortifrut incorporated Hortifrut Vietnam Company Limited in June 2025 as a wholly owned unit of Hortifrut Genetics Limited, and on 30 September 2026 launched the Berry Good consumer brand in Europe. In July 2026 Naturipe Farms and Hortifrut widened a berry-genetics platform with Australia's Mountain Blue Orchards. The cherry business, worth US$21.3 million in FY2025, was exited on 4 June 2026, and the AeroFarms research partnership that some profiles date to 2025 was in fact signed in January 2021.

Risks & Outlook

The main risk is profitability, not reach. FY2025 ended with a net loss attributable to owners of US$77.7 million, and in December 2025 trade press reported a major loss with strategic changes in Peru. The first half of 2026 narrowed the attributable loss to US$0.8 million. Revenue is concentrated in blueberry, at US$745.7 million or roughly 61% of total income, exposing the group to one category's price cycle, to weather and to the cost of varietal renewal.

Ownership and disclosure are the second constraint. PSP Investments held about 62.04% after 22 October 2024 while the founding-family Controlling Group retained 37.83% and governance control, so Hortifrut is jointly controlled rather than wholly owned, and its corporate bonds remain registered even though the shares are no longer listed. Revenue is not disclosed by country, so the widely quoted China revenue figure has no company source and is not published here. Verified berry scale, owned frozen capacity and the new brand and genetics platforms underpin this position. VerityRank Score of 85/100.