The Peruvian asparagus industry has gone through a massive uplift in the last 10 years, with the country going from exporting $1.6 million (£910,000) of fresh asparagus in 1998, to nearly 12 times that amount in 2007, according to Peruvian Customs. Growers have invested a lot of time, experience and money into creating the best technology, which has resulted in delivering the highest commercial yields in the world.
A total of 85 per cent of the asparagus-growing areas in Peru are located south of Lima in Ica, and La Libertad in the north of the country, and the land’s dry, hot conditions result in year-round production.
Located near the equatorial line, Peru receives an ideal amount of sunlight for effective photosynthesis, which means a more intensive green colour for asparagus, according to Beatrix Tubino, manager of the Peruvian Asparagus and Vegetable Institute (IPEH). “Rain is not common, and the production areas are located on the coast, with good access to transportation logistics,” she says. “We take care of the produce, maintaining the cold chain system, and therefore the quality, up until it reaches the consumer.”
An IPEH survey at the beginning of the year revealed that Peru has approximately 27,000 hectares of land dedicated to asparagus, compared to 2005’s total of almost 23,000ha, and some 1,500 growers share that land, with green asparagus accounting for 80 per cent and white asparagus 20 per cent of volumes. And this year, the IPEH predicts an increase in production of between 10 and 15 per cent on 2007.
This rings true with UK fresh produce supplier Barfoots, which farms asparagus on 200ha of land in the northern Trujillo region and 400ha in the Ica valley. Barfoots’ Peruvian asparagus is exported in approximately equal measures to the US, Europe and the UK, with roughly 900 tonnes making its way to the UK.
“Yield is a lot better this year,” reveals Barfoots’ supply chain director Howard Radcliffe. “Last year, the Peruvian winter in July and August was challenging as it was a good deal colder than usual; but this year has been a more typical season. It has also been a fairly straightforward season since the start of the year in terms of production and yield.
“Peru is especially suited to asparagus production for a number of reasons. Asparagus is grown on the coastal plains between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean, which provides a dry, moderate micro climate, with daytime temperatures of 25-30°C in summer and 15-20°C in winter.
“Due to the moderate climate, the asparagus grows steadily so the heads do not open too quickly. Because the climate is dry, there is a lower risk of disease and the dry sandy soil means that growers can manipulate crop production easily with irrigation,” he adds.
Despite the good climate in Peru, asparagus growers struggled with volume in the south of Peru in June and July. “Growth of the crops in the south during the winter months is much slower, as night-time temperatures can drop below 10°C, so growers tend to cover the asparagus with plastic to improve yield. But the north is generally a better area to grow asparagus in the Peruvian winter and that is why we have growers in both the south and north of the country,” says Radcliffe.
According to the IPEH, between 80-85 per cent of Peruvian asparagus exports have been of top-notch quality. “It is a team effort; our commitment is to maintain standards with our cold chain and comply with all the requirements around food safety, from the field, packhouses and to the fork,” says Tubino. “We also have a commitment to our people and security programmes.”
Peru is a vital source for UK multiples and wholesalers alike, and ensures that UK consumers have access to the fashionable vegetable outside the short - yet popular -British asparagus season.
Asda sources 80 per cent of its year-round requirement of asparagus from Peru. The supermarket sources Peruvian product for 10 months of the year, and year-on-year volumes are up by five per cent.
“Peruvian asparagus is available to Asda 52 weeks a year, but during mid-April to June, we source UK crop and only use Peruvian variety to top-up if availability is an issue,” says an Asda spokesperson. “UK gras is very much in demand, and highly promoted. Sales tend to fall a little at the end of the UK material, however stabilise [with Peruvian asparagus] within a couple of weeks.
“Peruvian asparagus is a readily available, consistently high-quality product. In comparison to other countries, Peru delivers year-round in terms of flavour and colour.”
Barfoots believes that, even though there is a downturn in demand for Peruvian asparagus during the British asparagus season, it is essential to the year-round popularity of the product.
“We see a big reduction in demand for Peruvian asparagus [during the UK season] and we probably send around 20 per cent of what we would normally send from late June to mid-April, outside the UK season,” says Radcliffe. “But the UK season is a huge seasonal event and a big opportunity for sales. It builds up a lot of interest in the product, which creates an increase in demand for Peruvian asparagus after the UK season has ended.”
Barfoots has noticed an increase in demand for Peruvian asparagus, which Radcliffe puts down to the product being more affordable. Volume sales of the product are up 25 per cent year on year, and the company has been working on promotions with the leading supermarkets it supplies. But will this have a negative effect on the Peruvian asparagus industry?
Radcliffe does not believe so. He says: “There has been pressure from consumers on retail price to become more affordable, but this has increased sales and allowed Peruvian producers to become more efficient to ensure profitability. It is creating further sales and attention for the industry.”
But with the exchange rate between the dollar and sterling fluctuating and production costs rising, is the UK market as attractive as it once was?
“The UK remains a profitable market for Peruvian asparagus growers, but it is less attractive than it was,” explains Radcliffe. “The US and European markets are big importers of Peruvian product and are good alternative markets for Peru. It is not only the challenge of higher costs that is problematic. The UK used to offer a premium marketplace for Peruvian growers, but now, because of the pressure on retail prices and the weakening of sterling against the dollar, other markets are becoming much more attractive.”
The IPEH believes that growers are held back by the amount of standards and accreditations they have to abide by. “It is not really exclusively an issue for growers sending to the UK, and I think it is not a problem that only Peru faces, but the proliferation of different safety schemes that growers and exporters must implement in order to sell to a specific supermarket carries a lot of costs,” says Tubino. “Also, the further restrictive maximum residue levels (MRLs) and the reduction of choices of pesticides have had an effect. We are committed to food safety in Peru, but we believe that any change of legislation must be supported by scientific studies before it is applied.”
Furthermore, the industry is still recovering from the earthquake that hit the Ica region in Peru in August last year. “It affected us on a social level and our labour force’s houses and schools were hit hard,” explains Tubino. “But we understood that we needed to work harder in order to continue to sell our produce to the world, and there were no delays for our customers. Maintaining that relationship of trust with our customers is very important.”
In terms of production and crop quality, Barfoots’ growing areas were not greatly affected, but the damage caused to infrastructure and water pipes did cause problems. According to Radcliffe, getting water to the fields around the Ica area was hard work and lack of irrigation was an issue for some time, as was transporting the produce once harvested. But labour shortage was the main problem brought on by the earthquake, as many people moved out of the central city of Pisco and became homeless. “In terms of labour, people are still moving back into the area now,” says Radcliffe. “It is going to take a long time to get the normal labour levels back.”
Radcliffe believes that Peruvian growers are still making a profit, but admits that the industry is faced with more challenges than it used to have. As with all agricultural and horticultural sectors, Peru has seen a large increase on fertiliser and input costs. A rise in oil prices and the weakness of sterling to the dollar has resulted in inflation of up to 300 per cent in some areas. But, in particular, the Peruvian asparagus industry is feeling the pinch from rising costs in the airfreight sector.
“The capacity of aircraft has become less and the price of fuel has gone up,” explains Radcliffe. “Airlines have updated their fleet with new planes that are more efficient for passengers, but less so for airfreight. For example, traditionally a plane would fly from Lima, stop in the Caribbean to refuel and then fly to Europe. Now the airliners are more efficient and fly direct to Europe; but due to the increase in fuel being carried and the type of aeroplanes being used, there is less room for cargo. We are also competing for space with flower producers in Colombia during certain periods of the year.”
As a result, and due to environmental pressures, Barfoots has been looking into alternative ways to both reduce transportation costs and its product’s carbon footprint. “With the aid of modern technology, we are looking to ship the product to Europe,” says Radcliffe. “We have found a route that would only take three weeks and are looking at storage techniques that would allow us to do that.”
So there is still plenty of room for improvement in the Peruvian asparagus industry, and demand for different coloured types of the product is pushing the sector forward. The main green variety used in Peru is the UC157 strain from the University of California. White asparagus, which is particularly popular in mainland Europe but not to a great extent in the UK, is often the same variety but is covered with soil during growth to stop chlorophyll production. But the purple asparagus variety does seem to have a place on the UK market as a niche line and, as a result, Barfoots is looking to produce a crop in Peru in the next few years.
“It is a good market to be in as a supplier, exporter and grower,” says Radcliffe. “Peru has the most ideal locations to grow asparagus and also has a very efficient workforce. The product is continuing to increase in popularity in the UK and there is still a great number of people who do not buy asparagus; but we have challenges ahead of us in terms of both logistics and cost.”
SOMETHING TO SHOUT ABOUT
PERU WILL host the XII Asparagus International Symposium (IAS) in Lima, from October 27 to November 2, 2009. The scientific symposium is arranged every four years, and the last was held in the Netherlands in 2005.
The event is being organised by the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) and will be hosted by the Peruvian Asparagus and Vegetable Institute (IPEH); the commission for the promotion of exports and tourism in Peru, PromPerú; and the University of National Agraria La Molina in Lima.
IAS 2009 will have a scientific programme, consisting of lectures and presentations. In addition, there will be pre- and post-symposium tours, visiting the most important asparagus production areas.
The IPEH will offer trips to its northern production areas in La Libertad, where presentations on white and canned asparagus will take place, and to the south, in Ica, the origin of the fresh and frozen asparagus industry will be discussed.
During the three days of the symposium, speakers from different part of the world will review current research trends, present new discoveries and make plans for future research and special projects in all areas of the asparagus industry. The main topics up for discussion are growing, breeding and biotechnology, physiology, market aspects and marketing, and post-harvest technology and processing, as well as plant protection.
