Peru exported 65,176 tons of asparagus up to September, 21% less volume than by the same date last year. However, since prices were 31% higher than in 2022, the value achieved increased by 4% year-on-year to 251 million dollars.
"In recent months, global demand for asparagus has shown greater dynamism. Consumption habits, previously modified by the pandemic, have begun to recompose and there is greater demand for asparagus. In fact, asparagus has become a protagonist in European kitchens. Paradoxically, this positive situation has coincided with one of the worst years in terms of supply and stocks for this vegetable internationally, as the world's largest producers face serious problems to even reach the production volumes of previous years," according to a recent report by Fresh Fruit.
Specifically, the decline in Peru's production, the world's second-largest supplier of this vegetable only behind Mexico, wasn't only due to weather issues. "It is important to highlight that the fall in prices experienced in previous years due to Mexico's growth seriously affected the planting intentions of producers throughout the country. The profitability offered by the production of asparagus was affected by the large freight rates and the growing competition that flooded key markets. As a result, producers slowly stopped investing in asparagus, so we don't expect that production will recover in the very short term."
In the medium term, however, "the situation that asparagus is experiencing in 2023 might help bring in new investments. Prices have maintained an upward trend that has not subsided for most of the year and that has strongly compensated for the low volumes this year."
Source: freshfruit.pe