A few months ago, FreshPlaza spoke with Apanatche Bark Silva, of Pommer Fresh Foods, a Brazilian exporter of ginger, who argued that the quality of their ginger was much higher than that of China, which would explain their higher prices. Now, Bark Silva gives us some comments and prospects for this year's ginger season.
"We have already started with the campaign by sea. We received our first two shipments last week, although we have been receiving ginger from Brazil by air since April," explains the trader, based in the United States up until 2012." The quality of the crop is excellent, much better than last year."
The ginger fields of Pommer Fresh Foods are located in Santa María de Jetibá, in Espirito Santo, Brazil. The trader explains that, in this mountainous region, the rains falling early in the year really help the production, although this is not the case in areas like São Paulo, where rains can soak the soil and spoil the ginger. Furthermore, the production in Santa María de Jetibá is not protected by any pesticides or chemical compounds and is produced with family farming methods. Pommer Fresh has more than 200 member families cultivating ginger together.
Bark Silva expects at least 80 containers to be shipped to the United States, i.e. some 110,000 boxes. "Last year, we exported 75 containers there. Despite Chinese prices, which are very low right now, we have to fight to prove our quality." Pommer also ships ginger to the European market since 2003. Bark Silva added that now that Brazil is entering the market, prices will fall.
Brazilian ginger competes directly with the product from Peru, Costa Rica and Thailand, but the market is familiar with the superior quality of Brazilian ginger and, because of that difference in quality, "if Peru wants to compete, its prices will have to be lower than those of China."
Asked on whether he is optimistic about the next few weeks, he jokes: "Yeah, we have to be, because we have to sell at least four containers per week."
Pommer Fresh Foods is proud to announce that this year it has obtained the GlobalGAP certification for its fields and packaging plant in Brazil. "We are the largest exporter in Brazil. In the United States, we have the influence of prices; our costs are lower because we have Brazilian competitors selling Brazilian ginger. We have the production, packaging plant and a transport company, because road transport prices in Brazil are very high, so every little bit helps," he concludes.
More information:
Apanatche Bark Silva
Pommer Fresh Foods
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States