Peru: New organic ginger crop about to start

The new crop of Organic Ginger is about to start from Peru. There are still people shipping the old crop, and offering slightly lower prices than the new crop, but the quality of the old crop is just not there. Customers should be careful when they are offered low prices, as these prices are likely for mixed boxes (old and new crops) or even full boxes of the old crop. There are several shippers who believe organic ginger is a product that will last longer than it actually does. Quality should always be the number one priority, and this is why Peru needs to emphasize pre and post harvest quality control, and sustainability.

At our Organic Division, Asica Organics, we care about what customers need and require from quality/appearance to sizing of the hands; and most importantly flavor. Some customers need smaller hands which go to retail, some customers want bigger hands, some customers want industrial grade for processing, some of them want "wet" ginger and other people want completely dry - it is very important to understand every customer's requirements, and tailor our shipments to fully comply with our orders.

It is hard to tell at this point what the overall production will be this year. Some growers have said they planted/certified a lot less than last year, and other people say it remained the same. Demand however, has increased. On the other hand there are some people rushing to move what is left of their old crop before the new crop begins. In our case we have a fresh, constant supply year round. Some weeks in February and March are usually our low season but we make sure our production-planning team is aware that we need to have constant supply year round. We achieve this by rotational crop and planting at different weeks/ times of the year to take advantage of the weather patterns in Pichanaki since everything for the organic ginger crop is done in an artisan way.

Peruvian organic ginger has been in good demand since it has a bolder and stronger flavor than other sourcing parts of the world. Chinese ginger for example is used more often as a vegetable than a spice or garnish, because it has a much weaker flavor. Peru is sought out for the food service and health food industries. Asica's organic ginger specifically has an extra touch of "golden shine" color profile due to the fact that we take extra steps in our process in order to have no moldy stems and good skin at arrival. Due to all of the extra steps we take with our ginger, paired with careful planning, we are able to provide our customers with high quality ginger year-round. You see alot of new trends for instance in Scandinavia or in the U.S., where people are having "ginger shots" everyday which is extremely healthy and good for digestion; especially if it is a clean, pure root with no residues, bolder in taste, and coming straight out of the Peruvian Rain Forest.

Asica Organics also has a reforestation program put in place that gives back to the community. This is not just a more environmentally friendly process, but also supports economic mobility in the area by creating full-time jobs, educational programs, and trying to bring more activity in the Pichanaki area through our organic branch established there which will encourage the Central Government to allocate more of the resources to public works, roads, etc.

Asica is one of the biggest kent mango and hass avocado producers, packers, and shippers in South America. Asica Organics is our organic division, which handles organic, sustainably grown products with a community focus.

For more information on Asica's Golden Organic ginger:
Matthew McGeary
Grupo Asica - Asica Organics Division
Perú
E: matthew.mcgeary@asicagroup.com
www.asicanatural.com