The Sectors: Argentine Dairy and Chilean Fruit in International Perspective

Abstract

Agroindustrial sectors in the late 1990s comprise long production chains that have become very complex in terms of their organization and technological components. This complexity characterizes not only those products that pass through an industrialization stage before reaching the consumer, such as most dairy products, but also those that are virtually untouched between the farm and the supermarket, such as fresh fruits and vegetables. For the latter, meeting demand expectations with respect to colour, freshness and taste, as well as complying with tight government regulations on the use of pesticides and the absence of disease involves a high degree of organizational skill and technological prowess.