Ingleby Farms, a multinational company with headquarters in Denmark and agricultural operations in various continents and countries, including livestock farming in Argentina and Australia, pistachio farming in the U.S. and cereal production in Romania and Uruguay, has chosen Peru as the main location for its blueberry, avocado and table grape productions. The firm implements regenerative agriculture and its goal is the production of healthy food for generations to come.
Isaias Segovia Romaní, head of the Danish company's agricultural operations in Peru.
"The issue of sustainability is at the heart of the company's corporate policy," says Isaias Segovia Romaní, head of the Danish company's agricultural operations in Peru. "We respect the environment, with special emphasis on soil care, because we understand that investing to guarantee the production for just the next ten or twenty years would be a mistake. We need to look much further ahead, to a period of at least 150 years."
In Peru, Ingleby Farms owns 1,300 hectares of crops in the districts of Motupe and Olmos, both in the province of Lambayeque. Some 700 hectares are devoted to avocados, another 300 to table grapes and the rest is used for blueberry production. The avocados and table grapes are packed at Proserla's facilities, while the blueberries are sorted and processed by Ingleby Farms, which has its own lines for the tasks.
The Ingleby Farms team in the department of Lambayeque.
Improvements in avocado field drainage system
The avocados, which are all Hass except for a very small amount of Zutano and Ettinger, which are used as pollinators, are shipped to retailers and importers in the UK, EU and the U.S. "We work exclusively with fruit that we produce ourselves, as we want to ensure that the crop is fully sustainable, which is what our customers have been promised. While this year's yield is slightly lower than the average of the last ten years, the El Niño phenomenon caused much greater losses last season, not so much because of the higher temperatures, which certainly had an impact on the flowering, but mainly because of the excess water, which damaged around 30% of the root system. In a month and a half we had 1,300 mm of rainfall, when the annual average is 60 mm. After what happened last year, we made improvements in the drainage system, so this year we are keeping the crop much better protected."
In Peru, Ingleby Farms owns 1,300 hectares of crops in the districts of Motupe and Olmos, both in the province of Lambayeque. Some 700 hectares are devoted to avocados, another 300 to table grapes and the rest is used for blueberry production.
Good starting prices for large avocados
The first avocados were harvested in mid-March, and according to Isaias Segovia, they reached a good price of $3.75 for the large sizes, due to the lack of supply in the international market. "At the moment, small sizes are recording very low prices, but it is difficult to say how the market will develop in the coming months, since if the crop loss is greater than expected, prices will tend to rise."
The head of agricultural operations at Ingleby Farms Peru says that there are many small growers in the highlands whose acreage is not always accounted for and from whom buyers seem to be buying a lot of fruit this year. "Besides, El Niño has almost zero impact in the highlands in the south of the country. However, some exporters report low dry matter contents, as growers, eager to take advantage of the good prices at the beginning of the season, are picking the fruit too early."
While this year's yield is slightly lower than the average of the last ten years, the El Niño phenomenon caused much greater losses last season.
High prices for premium quality white grapes in the U.S.
As for table grapes, Ingleby Farms produces three varieties in Peru: Sweet Globe, Jack's Salute and Red Globe, although the latter's acreage is quite limited, with just 30 hectares. "Red Globe grapes are intended for the Central American and European markets. The majority of table grapes in Peru are white varieties, which have been gradually replacing traditional varieties such as the Thompson, Crimson and Sugraone. White grapes are mostly exported to the U.S., where the prices paid for premium quality at the end of the Californian season are higher than in Europe. The U.S. market demands a uniform green color for Sweet Globe grapes, while European buyers accept different grades of amber fruit. Also, the minimum sugar content value required in the U.S. and UK is 15-16 degrees Brix, compared to 14 degrees in the European market."
Ingleby Farms bets on Jack's Salute grapes
Despite the popularity of white seedless grapes among Peruvian growers, Ingleby Farms plans to expand the area planted with the red Jack's Salute grape, which "has the advantage of being very crunchy, having a good post-harvest shelf life and, above all, achieving extraordinary yields in our area," says Isaias Segovia. "Even without any treatments, this grape grows excellently in Motupe. Producers from Ica or Piura who come visit our fields don't have an explanation for it. Also, the fact that we import the plant material directly from California may explain the good performance of this variety in our orchards."
In Motupe and Olmos it is increasingly difficult to find laborers.
Table grapes, whose commercial window runs from August to December, are sorted by color in the field, depending on the destination market, but are packed in the packing station. "The fact is that the Peruvian National Agricultural Health Service (SENASA) does not allow grapes to be packed in the field for sanitary reasons. The exportable percentage ranges between 85 and 90 percent for the white varieties, depending on the weather, and between 90 and 95 percent for the red varieties. The volumes discarded for the international market end up in the local one," says the agricultural operations manager.
Ingleby Farms Peru has 600 employees throughout the entire year and up to 2,000 workers at the peak production times for avocados, table grapes and blueberries. "However, it is also becoming increasingly difficult to find laborers in Motupe and Olmos, partly because of the competition between the various large fruit and vegetable producing companies in this region. We try to keep our workers loyal by providing good quality accommodation close to the fields, where they can stay from Monday to Friday, thus preventing the need for people to make morning and afternoon commutes to and from their homes, in some cases of up to two hours. Besides, a well-rested worker performs much better," concludes Isaias Segovia.
For more information:
Isaias Segovia Romaní
Ingleby Farms – Plantaciones del Sol SAC
Torres Paz 683 Of. 401
Lambayeque, Peru
[email protected]
www.inglebyfarms.com