The first limited volume of organic grapes, from Pura Fruit in Peru, arrived in the US with customer feedback saying the arrivals were in good condition. Felipe Arriagada, board member of Pura Fruit described the organic harvest as ‘a huge challenge’.
“It has been a huge challenge! One of our goals is to produce high quality organic fruit. We know we have to differentiate from the rest with something great, but it's difficult at the same time to innovate with new products. The same idea of new projects could be the double harvest that we do with some varieties and the test blocks that we are developing with two of the main breeders.”
Pura Fruit developed and applied technology to produce three organic varieties: Autumn Crisp, Sweet Globe and Allison. “We harvested 50,000 boxes (2,800 boxes per ha) of organic fruit. It was our second harvest. The first one we sold it as conventional fruit because we wanted to try the condition of the fruit at the arrival. The price is good enough to compensate the limited production of the organic plants. We received some reports from customers in the US saying that the condition of the grapes was very good, we are very excited. We have in production 20 ha (Autumn Crisp, Sweet Globe and Allison) and we will plant in 2023 another 20 ha, a mix between Autumn Crisp and Allison again,” explains Arriagada.
Pura Fruit has farms in the north of Peru, which did not face problems with the riots. “The north of Perú remains calm. We can work without protest and export through Paita port. Additionally, people in Pura Fruit earn around 20% more than at any other farm, so we do have their support and they really want to work,” states Arriagada.
For more information:
Felipe Arriagada
Pura Fruit
Email: FARRIAGADA@cverde.cl
www.purafruit.com