In the last ten years, shipments of grapes, asparagus and avocado, have fuelled the growth of non-traditional exports.
According to the EY Guide for Business and Investment in Peru, from 2005 to 2014, exports of fresh grapes went from US $34 million to $632 million, meanwhile exports of asparagus, a product that had some exporting stability by 2005, reached $383 million last year.
"The situation was similar for avocados, as exports amounted to $307 million in 2014, which translates into a growth of more than 1,200%," stated EY.
The main destinations for Peruvian fresh grape exports are the US, the Netherlands and Hong Kong. Peru mainly ships asparagus to the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, while the country mainly exports its avocados to the United States, the Netherlands and Spain.
Other products
Another product that has maintained a sustained annual growth is the quinoa with a yearly increase of 150% in recent years. The mango, which is currently among the top five agricultural exports, has a similar case, as exports in 2014 reached $137 million dollars.
"Our agricultural exports in 2014 reached $5 billion dollars and we expect this sector will grow by nearly 30% this year and range between $6.5 billion and $7 billion dollars," said Paulo Pantigoso, Country Managing Partner of EY.
He added that the agricultural export sector could even grow more than expected because of the increase in the number of productive hectares and the future opening of other markets such as Russia, Turkey and India.
Source: Gestión