The first ever shipment of Hass avocados originating from Peru's sierra region are heading off for the Chinese market, thanks to an alliance between a private company and a government entity. 

A total of 10 containers of fruit produced by small producers in the Cusco region will be exported to Shanghai.

This is part of a 'strategic alliance' between major exporter Camet Trading and public organization Sierra and Selva Exportadora.

Peru is divided into three broad geographical regions – the coast, the sierra, and the jungle. The majority of avocado production is currently based in the coastal areas. 

The first container of 20 metric tons (MT) was shipped from Cusco to Ica, where it was packed by Sun Fruits and inspected by the country's phytosanitary watchdog SENASA.

The fruit was then moved to the Port of Callao where it began its journey to Shanghai, which is expected to take 35 days. The last container will be shipped in late April bringing the total to 200MT.

Sierra and Selva Exportadora hailed the development as a milestone for small-holder farmers in Peru. It added that by the end of the 2018-19 season, Hass avocados would not just be shipped from Cusco, but from other regions of the sierra as well.

In addition, it highlighted it had provided technical assistance to 160 Hass avocado producers in the Limatambo district of Cusco to carry out the first shipment. 

In March a representative of the organization told Fresh Fruit Portal the sierra region was expecting to almost triple its share of the country’s exports in the coming years.

www.freshfruitportal.com