Avocados, grapes and asparagus, oh my!

September 17, 2014

By Agnes Rivera

Peru´s non-traditional agricultural exports grew in first half of 2014.

Money seems to be growing from all sorts of agricultural goods, especially the non-traditional exports.

Reported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (MINAGRI) non-traditional agricultural exports raked in an astounding US$ 2.379 million dollars in the first seven months of 2014. This figure represents a 27% increase in comparison to the same time period of the previous year.

The General Directorate of Monitoring and Policy Evaluation (Dgesep) credits much of this success to fresh avocados (USD$253 million), grapes ($233 million) and asparagus ($169 million). Mangos, quinoa, and cocoa beans were top players in the export market as well.

At the same time, traditional agricultural exports amounted to US$ 262 million dollars. This figure shows a 3.5% decrease from last year, when the amount was US$ 272 million dollars.

According to MINAGRI´s report, Peruvian agricultural goods were transferred to nearly 150 countries. The United States claimed, as it has for some time, most of the agricultural goods, with 27.3% of the total. The Netherlands came in second (13.8%), followed by Spain, German , Ecuador and England. These six countries combined claimed over 60 percent of the total traditional and non-traditional Peruvian agricultural exports.

Meanwhile, Peru and Switzerland are planning to become trade partners as Swiss companies have shown growing interest in traditional and non-traditional Peruvian agricultural goods. According to Luis Chuquihuara, Ambassador of Peru in Switzerland, “Agribusiness will be the star sector of Peruvian exports for the coming years”.

Related Posts