Peru: Dehydrated veggies offer business opportunities
It is very hard for people in a country like Peru and many other Latin American countries, which h…It is very hard for people in a country like Peru and many other Latin American countries, which have a biodiversity and climate that allows them to grow vegetables, herbs, and fruits throughout most of the whole year, to imagine that the people of some countries, which don't have the same luck, consume fruit pills, dried vegetables and herbs, or that they buy processed asparagus or spinach soups when they can make them out of fresh vegetables.
The truth, however, is that it is a reality and that it generates a market opportunity for producing countries. This is the market Peru is addressing with exports of dehydrated or powdered vegetables that can serve as input for vegetable and herb broths, soups, pills, dry vegetable extract capsules, and seasonings, among other things.
In 2015, exports of dehydrated vegetables increased by 53.1% compared to 2014, totaling $8.35 million dollars. 92% of the exports were dehydrated products, 8% were powdered products, and they had an average price of $12.14 dollars per kilo. In addition, the export volume amounted to nearly 687.6 tons. Volume increased by 31.5% over 2014, when exports amounted to nearly 5.5 million dollars (83% dehydrated and 17% powdered products), the export volume was 523 tons, and the average price achieved was $10.43 dollars per kilo.
The main destination countries were Germany, Brazil, the United States, and France. Germany was the main target market, as it accounted for more than 60% of all the revenue and more than 50% of the export volume in 2014. In 2015 Peru exported 5.1 million dollars of dehydrated products to Germany, i.e. 61% of total exports and 39% more than in the previous year. It was followed by Brazil with $1.98 million dollars (24% of the total), which means exports to this destination increased 3 times (337.5%) in value over the previous year.
The main vegetables exported in 2015 were dehydrated fungi cut into pieces (30%), parsley (27%) and basil (17%) ; for 2.5 million, 2.3 million and 14 million dollars, respectively, and a volume of 219.4 tons, 150 and 97.4 tons respectively. Meanwhile, the price per kilogram of each product was approximately 11.3 dollars for mushrooms, 15.2 for parsley and 29.9 for basil.
Compared to 2014 the main changes took place in exports of artichoke and caigua, as their export value significantly increased by 29 and 14 times, respectively. On the other hand, the main export products (mushrooms, parsley and basil) showed increases of 230.6%, 67% and 61.6% compared to 2014, respectively.
It is a great opportunity, especially if one considers that this market allows producers to use all of their production.