High demand white asparagus for Easter

Unfortunately there will not be enough white Peruvian asparagus to cover the high demand for Easter. European production is delayed and our producers had predicted already last year that they could not produce enough to fulfill the needs of the European market at this time.

This is not due to climate or weather-limited growth, but simply because the overall market situation in Peru is extremely difficult. A further extension of the production areas means for the local producers a high incalculable risk. The main reason is the fact that the Peruvian processing market for asparagus has not grown at the same speed as the market for fresh asparagus.

To explain this, only 50% of each harvested kilo asparagus can be used for the fresh asparagus sector. The other 50% has to be processed for the food industry. With this the Peruvian asparagus industry feels pressure from China’s highly competitive processing sector, which becomes a dominant world player. Moreover, due to the global economic crisis, Spain’s demand for canned asparagus which has always been a primary market has decreased significantly. A further increase of the Peruvian fresh asparagus production would mean that Peru would create an huge overstock of preserves and as they produce year round, they would also have a lot more asparagus available in the months in which there is less demand.

Quality management in the fields and in the packing stations of our Peruvian partners is at a very high level. The packing stations are located right besides the fields, therefore the time between harvesting and packing of the asparagus is less than an hour. The freshness of the asparagus benefits from this quick production process. Also the careful use of the fields is of great importance for the quality, they only harvest a maximum of 20 days, then the field is closed again so it can recover properly. All in all, the Peruvian asparagus has really earned its place in the European shelves. Both the trade and the consumer have recognized that Peruvian asparagus are very high in quality which is available for consumption year round.