Peru: Camposol blueberries are now nine months business

26/01/2016

What started as a test of one hectare in 2011 is now one of the dominant products of the Peruvian multinational fruit and vegetable Camposol, now comprising blueberries 80% of their new plantations. The CEO of Camposol Fresh, José Antonio Gómez, talks to Portalfruticola.com about the transformation of the business from avocados (avocados) to this berry.

For a company that originally aimed for an offer of blueberries from October to November, coinciding with Argentina and before Chile entered the market, there is the feeling that the exponential progress of the company has not only been a surprise for the market, but also for Camposol.

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José Antonio Gómez, CEO of Camposol Fresh.

That at least for the old Camposol, the leader in asparagus that existed until a rapid transformation that saw the irruption of 1.000 hectares of blueberries. Now Gómez points to 1.000 more in the coming years.

"Currently Peru does not have a window", He says. Camposol can grow blueberries any time with the help of the natural greenhouse conditions of the Peruvian coast.

"If there is something that differentiates Peru from the rest of the world, it is its production consistency. The climate is very stable, so you can predict production in advance and have a small variability, versus what happens in Chile and Argentina "says Gómez.

"In recent seasons the quality has been so consistent that supermarkets are asking us to continue providing until the Chilean season", he adds.

Gómez says that Camposol is supplying supermarkets in North America until March-April, when the Florida season begins, and only leaving when significant volumes of Georgia enter the market.

"The business, from being a narrow one of two or three months, has become one of nine months from August to April", says Gómez, adding that the 80% of the blueberries were delivered directly to supermarkets.

"We have gone through different strategic decisions in the business. The company needed to focus resources on something that made sense for us, so we have been able to develop a new business that in recent years has become the predominant ", Señala.

Gómez describes the transformation from predominantly preserved to fresh as incredible."We are now supplying five chains in the United States and probably eight in Europe, with stable volumes that were fixed at the beginning of the season. These volumes with these supermarkets go from the beginning of September to the end of March. "says Gómez.

"Near the 60% of our volume goes to the United States, sometimes an 55%. 35% goes to Europe, especially to the United Kingdom, and then we have a balance sheet that goes to Asia and Latin America ", he adds.

Gómez ends by saying that "The product has been hugely successful. It is a success story that at first we did not know that it would work, both from the agricultural and the market point of view ".

Source: Fruit Portal