Peru is on the rise in the world of forest fruits. The South American country has become the world’s largest exporter of blueberries, surpassing major powers such as the US, Canada and Chile. After being a minor competitor for the last decade, it has crowned itself the king of the so-called blue gold. The recipe for success consists of several ingredients: a perfect habitat (the coastal desert with significant extensions for large-scale production), the development of sophisticated irrigation systems (which have enabled high productivity), science-based agriculture (with intensive research work on the crop sector). genetics) and a group of companies open to researching new strains to satisfy the market.
“Over the past decade, the blueberry industry has become truly global,” says Cindy van Rijswick, Rabobank’s fresh produce expert. “The international market is growing with Peru,” he admits. In 2022, the Andean country’s industry exported 287,806 tons of blueberries worth 1.4 billion dollars (around 1.25 billion euros). This number represents a historic record, the fourth in a row, for a company that did not sell anything beyond its limit in 2012. One of the protagonists of this story is Carlos Gereda, founder and CEO of Inka’s Berries.
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After an important visit by Peruvian businessmen to Chile in 2002, when blueberries were already having a notable impact on international markets, Gereda, a graduate of La Molina Agricultural University, found that there was a general lack of knowledge about the product in his country. From this he drew two conclusions. First, growing this fruit on Peruvian soil during the off-season in the northern hemisphere, the region where it is consumed in most quantities, had great potential. The US, the world’s largest blueberry supplier, supplied the market with blueberries between May and August. After that, the season was partially over and we had to wait until Chile (which until recently was the leader in Latin America) took the lead in December. In other words, between September and November, there weren’t enough blueberries on the market to meet the growing demand. Argentina and Uruguay, also participants in this deal, have struggled to fill the gap created during this period. And there was a chance for Peru.
Blueberries of the Matías variety developed by Inka’s Berries.
The second conclusion Gereda came to was that exploiting the gap required access to facilities adapted to local conditions, quickly and at reasonable prices. So he got to work and set out in search of a strain that could be grown on the Peruvian coast. It was’nt easy. This fruit needs a cold period (the so-called winter cold) to grow. At least 400 to 800 hours of cold weather are required at temperatures below a certain threshold, which is usually around seven degrees and cannot be reached on the Peruvian coast. After a few years and after testing 14 different strains, Gereda hit the nail on the head with four of them, which led to the creation of protocols for in vitro propagation. The next challenge was finding agribusinesses willing to jump on the blueberry bandwagon in a country where there are grapes, asparagus, and avocados (or avocados, as they call it locally).
key variety
So Gereda founded Inka’s Berries in 2009. That same year, Camposol, one of the country’s largest producers, decided to try one of the varieties already tested by Gereda to get into the business. Both companies found that the Biloxi variety was better adapted to local conditions. At that time, Camposol focused decisively on the development of this fruit. The company converted its asparagus fields, which had been declining in yield, to blueberry orchards. In 2011 they planted their first 50 hectares. In 2016 they already had 1,600 hectares. Currently, Camposol, the country’s largest blueberry exporter, has 3,000 hectares. “Something transformative and magical has emerged in Peru,” says José Antonio Gómez, CEO of the company, which exported around 50,820 tons in 2022, almost the same amount that Spain sold abroad. Last year, the company had nearly $500 million in sales, 65% of which came from blueberries.
Currently, Peruvian farmers produce the fruit all year round, although the peak of production occurs between September and October. The dedicated hectares are more than 20,000. They are sold to more than 30 countries, with the country being the third largest producer after the US and China. In addition to Camposol, various companies are also involved, such as Agrovisión Perú, Hortifrut, Agrícola Cerro Prieto and Exportadora Frutícola del Sur. “We estimated that 135,000 direct jobs were created in the last campaign,” says Luis Miguel Vegas, Manager of ProArándanos.
Of the varieties, more than 65 different varieties have been certified. In addition, Gereda has developed new ones in collaboration with the University of Georgia. “The blueberry is the country’s last major agricultural export, but it was first preceded by asparagus, grapes and avocados,” says Piero Ghezzi, founding partner of HacerPerú and former production minister of that country. Ghezzi points out that success is based on a combination of several factors. First, the political decisions that the country has made over the past few decades. These include the development of irrigation projects on the Peruvian coast, the strengthening of Senasa – the health authority responsible for opening up new export markets – but also the Agricultural Promotion Law – introduced in 2000, renewed in 2006 and repealed in 2020 – which a introduced special tax and labor system, as well as free trade agreements with various markets including the United States, Europe and China, which allowed duty-free exports.
However, the boom is not without risks. “The main reason is that farmers are expanding their production too quickly,” says Van Rijswick. This could put pressure on margins and prices, which have already been declining in recent years. Add to this competition from other countries, geopolitical tensions (such as the war in Ukraine, which has increased production costs), logistical difficulties, internal political unrest and the effects of climate change. This last factor is already making its mark. A hotter climate is affecting some varieties and it is difficult to know what the production of the 2023-2024 season will be, explains the manager of ProArándanos. “We are dealing with three scenarios: the first is that exports will grow, the second is that we will maintain last year’s figures and the third is that we would decrease in volume… If the latter happens, we would we still maintain our position as the world’s leading exporter,” he concludes.
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