Camposol continues to develop further blueberry export expansion

Camposol continues with its ambitious plans for the export of blueberries. The Peruvian company has been very satisfied with the blueberry exports which totalled 1 million kg in 2013. At the time of the Peruvian season, the international market was practically unsupplied due to very adverse weather conditions that affected Chile and Argentina, thus the Peruvian crop arrived at the right moment.

70% of the sales concentrate on the United States where the marketing window covers the months of September through December. Camposol has started direct supplies to several supermarket chains in the United States, the United Kingdom and other important markets.

Field tests are being made with different varieties to find out whether the cultivation results can be further improved, although the present outcome is already very positive. While the blueberries are exported exclusively as fresh produce for the time being, a certain percentage of frozen produce is envisaged for the future and might reach 10% of the total volume.

Blueberries are among the highest priority products at present. Starting from the existing area of 200 hectares, Camposol plans to sow yearly 600 hectares until reaching a cultivation area of approx. 2,000 hectares by the end of 2016. This way, volumes will increase to about 2 million kg in 2014 and approx. 5 million in 2015. Once the full productivity has been reached, it is expected to obtain an annual crop yield of about 30,000 tons. All this implies an investment of more than 100 million dollars in plants, packing facilities and equipment, by which Camposol’s operation will become one of the biggest blueberry projects in the world, creating almost 10,000 additional jobs.

The strong increase of the blueberry production foreseen for the next three years also means a great challenge in terms of social responsibility which Camposol positively accepts. Anticipating that the new production areas will lead to a growth of the population in the region, including the workers’ families, a building project is being planned for the construction of housing in the surroundings of the plantation. Within the framework of this project, Camposol will assure the integrated development of the new communities with schools, health and transport services as well as other elements to create an adequate infrastructure.

For more information:
Beate Löwe-Navarro
BLN Communications
Tel: +49-421 - 59 14 35
Fax: +49-421 - 59 79 934
Email: bln@bln-communications.com
www.bln-communicatións.com