Peru: Exporting cranberry to the US is complex, but very profitable

03/07/2017

The 7th International Seminar on blueberries organized by Blueberries Consulting in Lima, called "Peru and the Blueberry Industry: Defining Strategies for Access to New Markets", has brought together Chilean and Peruvian experts who addressed various areas of the blueberry industry, that is, the agronomic management of the plant, knowledge of the markets and greater commercial experience. About 320 people attended the event, including producers, exporters, professionals and the interested public.

Julia Gamarra, agroindustrial engineer, expert in food legislation spoke about «"Market strategies to promote the export of blueberries from Lima to the United States" and stated that the export of these berries to that market is still complex for small exporters but added that "the effort is well worth it because the profitability is very good."".

He stressed that although Peru can produce blueberries all year round as does the northern Chao area, Peruvian production intensifies from August to November and reaches its peak from October to November. He considered that Peru to achieve greater competitiveness should work in research and development given that currently only an 10% of Peruvian companies that participate in this industry invest in R & D.

Federico Beltrán, general manager of Terra Business said that Peru is already the 5 exporter of blueberries in the world and its growth is the most marked among the producers of the Southern Hemisphere. He also said that in the next 5 years, Peru will be the main exporter of fresh blueberries from the Southern Hemisphere.

The Peruvian blueberry

The production of blueberries in Peru continues to grow and for this year the export expectation is of 40.000 tons against about 29.000 tons of the previous season, informed Sergio del Castillo, general manager of Pro Blueberries, in the International Seminar of Lima.

Even the El Niño Costero phenomenon registered in the summer did not affect this industry, which continues to grow as in previous years, according to Del Castillo. "There was only a decrease in the speed of planting but the growth prospects were always maintained"He added.

Regarding planted areas, it was reported that among the associates of Pro Cranberries, there are approximately 3,200 hectares. Outside of them there are other 600 hectares, he said. The most used variety is still biloxi, although there are also plantations that are already testing with other patented varieties.

Del Castillo stressed that Peru is proving to be a consistent supplier, that is to say that it complies with the offer it promises, which gives it an international reputation against other strong competitors such as Chile or Mexico. "It's a very good competitive advantage, plus we have a very wide production window"He added.

He warned that the shortage of labor is already a problem for this industry and that it was something that could be seen to come just as it happened with other agro-export products.

Faced with that, there is no other choice but to adjust all costs and make more competitive productions, achieve important productivities, superior to those obtained in other parts of the world, use the best inputs and achieve greater specialization of the workforce.

"In this we are focused on making them more competitive, giving our associates a lot of information about the market and doing a very intense job as soon as they access new places. Now we are very concentrated in the US that although it is a very important market, we must consider that its natural supplier will be Mexico that is a strong competition" Given this, he said, Peru points to China with greater interest.

Source: Agrodiariohuelva.es