During the International Table Grape Seminar, organized by Asoex and the Table Grape Committee, Fernando Cillóniz, president of the consulting firm Inform@ction, spoke about the current and future status of the table grapes in Peru, focusing on the country's potential and main challenges.
"It's very difficult to find such a mild climate like ours in the world," said Cillóniz at the beginning of his speech.
Since one of the producers' main concerns is the temperature, Cillóniz stressed that "there is no chance of frost on the Peruvian coast, no heat waves; climate, in terms of temperature, is really mild. It practically doesn't rain at all in the Peruvian coast."
During the last table grape season, which came to an end in March this year, Peru exports amounted to $550 million dollars FOB. A number that, according to Cillóniz, was equivalent to 200,000 tons and that he expects it will increase to 500,000 tons within about 5 years.
The president of Inform@ction also stated that nearly 3,000 to 4,000 acres of grapes were being planted in the country per year, and that "Peru and Chile could perfectly complement their grape offer."
It should be noted that Peru's grape production is currently concentrated in two regions: Ica and Piura. The latter, according to Cillóniz, could become a revelation.
"Piura is a revelation. It is near Ecuador and, a few years ago, many warned us it was impossible to plant grapes in the tropics because they needed some chill hours. The grape, however, has grown perfectly and Piura is about to become Peru's main producing area," he said.
Cillóniz said they could complement the Chilean offer because "our grapes are of an early variety. The complementarity between Peru and Chile is perfect, and that's what the Chilean businessmen going to Peru are asking for," he said.
"Peru can complement Chile perfectly so they can offer grapes twelve months a year. The advantage of Peru, the early grape, is seen in the higher prices. Prices between November and December are always much higher than between February and March, which is a good business opportunity," he said.
Moreover, regarding the current challenges that Peru's grape production sector is facing, Cillóniz emphasized the issue of water, which "happily has a solution, but we must take action. My country is acting, we are making progress, we are learning to infiltrate aquifers, making irrigation and becoming more technical, in short, we are moving forward on that issue."
He also highlighted the potential that certain sandy areas have where they can grow fruit.
"The total land is becoming larger. The nice thing about Peru is its sandy area. Unlike the Chileans, we haven't worked our sands and there is a huge acreage of sandy areas that could be worked on as extraordinarily as the Chilean's do," he said.
Another concern for the sector is labour, however Cillóniz said that, after discussing the issue with the people from Chile and California, they discovered that the issue wasn't as serious as they thought. The challenges of modernization, working conditions and efficiency in production, however, are present. "I think we should advance in that," he said.
Regarding international markets, the president of Inform@ction said they had noticed the people in Europe were ageing and "the elderly usually eat natural foods", a trend that we should take advantage of. He also emphasized the efforts made by the Government of the United States to reduce the high rates of obesity through healthier eating with school programs and promotional outlets.
Cillóniz also stated that China was a blessing, adding that it was a market that didn't exist in the mind of entrepreneurs twenty years ago, but that it was currently a salvation.
Finally, Cillóniz concluded his presentation by inviting the Chileans to change perspective and consider an alliance.
"Hopefully the Chileans will see us as partners to supply the large and growing global market for fruit and vegetables," he said.
Source: Fresh Fruit Portal