According to a report of Scotiabank's Economic Research Department, "the export value of asparagus exports has decreased mainly because of the increased availability of Mexican asparagus in the American market. Production is also temporarily affected by the old age of the asparagus plantations. The higher prices of canned asparagus, due to the reduction of the Peruvian and Chinese offer, could partially balance this situation."
Below charts in Spanish:
Below charts in Spanish:
Peru markets its asparagus in three presentations: fresh, canned and frozen. Nearly 68% of its asparagus exports are fresh asparagus, 24% canned asparagus and 8% frozen asparagus.
According to Scotiabank shipments of fresh asparagus in the end of first half of the year amounted to $213 million dollars, i.e. a 13% decrease over the last year. The bank believes that by the end of 2014 these shipments would amount to $375 million, 8% less than in 2013.
The bank also predicted that exports of canned asparagus in 2014 would amount to $150 million dollars, 1% more than last year.
According to the IPEH, China might become the second export destination for Peruvian asparagus
Carlos Zamorano, executive director of the Peruvian Institute of Asparagus and Vegetables (IPEH), said the Chinese market was open because the phytosanitary protocol to begin exports of that vegetable to China had been signed in April last year. However, he said, they are waiting for officials of the General Administration of Quality China (AQSIQ), SENASA counterpart, to travel to Peru to monitor requirements in the fields.
According to Zamorano, this requirement is the missing ingredient to achieve trade between Peru and China, which has good prospects because the Asian market highly appreciates fresh asparagus, but they need to be sure there are no pest risks. "They want to import the product, but not the pests," he said.
Importance of the Chinese asparagus market
According to Zamorano, the Chinese market is very important, especially for asparagus, because they allocate their preserved asparagus to the European market and are now seeking for fresh produce. They found Peru had a very nice market in terms of quality, presentation and gauge size.
The Chinese market has had major changes in policies and its middle class' purchasing power has increased, so the country would demand more asparagus for domestic consumption.
"The Chinese market could become the second destination after the U.S. for asparagus. There are many foreign retail chains in China, so consumers would be both Chinese and Europeans," he said.
What should Peru do to topple the competition?
Zamorano said that Peru's main competitor was Mexico, a market that enjoys proximity to their main destination, the U.S. Thus, Mexico has 60% of that market, and 12% of the UK market, but if Peru manages to be on par with Mexico or surpass it, it would have almost the entire market.
To this end, he said, exporting firms must solve two issues: reducing delivery times and costs, as current shipments take too long to arrive on destination and that could be an obstacle so that the product is still fresh when it reaches its destination.
Another point is assuring quality, as the product is sprayed before entering the American market due to phytosanitary requirements, which interrupts the products cold chain.
"We need to be more competitive. It's necessary we change our mindset. We have an exceptional climate so asparagus grows throughout the whole year, unlike other countries. If we do not succeed in changing our mentality we won't be able to enter other markets, such as New Zealand and Australia," he added.
Source: elcomercio.pe