The Swiss Import Promotion Programme (SIPPO) is hoping to further mold trade relationships between South American produce growers and European buyers, with another trade mission to the continent.

The trip taking palce between Sept. 25-30 aims to find new fruit and vegetable suppliers in Colombia and Peru for the European market.

SIPPO’s project manager for fruits and vegetables, Jonas Spahn, told www.freshfruitportal.com that as opposed to the previous years, the buyers would not only visit Colombia, but would then travel to the Peruvian capital Lima to participate in the Expoalimentaria trade show.

"This year we decided to incorporate Expoalimentaria in our program because we are convinced that it will be a very valuable experience for the buyers, since they will be able to meet many growers in one place and have business meetings," he said.

While the program is financed by the Swiss Government, Spahn said buyers from all across Europe were invited on the trip, as one of SIPPO's main aims is to boost economic growth from Peru and Colombia.

"One of the goals is to show the buyers what the countries are like," he said.

"For example, two years ago we were in Peru and 80% of the participants had never been to the country before, so they were able to get to know the culture and logistical aspects while visiting farms and packing houses, amongst other things."

Another goal is to generate business contacts for both parties.

"We put the buyers in contact with companies who could be of interest to them and who could become suppliers of the products they're looking for," he said, adding that trade promotion groups PromPeru and ProColombia also helped putting buyers and growers together.

The representative highlighted avocados as one Colombian product that had already benefitted from the buyers missions.

"Avocados are green gold. The level of demand for the fruit is incredible, and while Colombia is a new country of origin for this product, we have had many buyers getting involved with it," he said.

"Some containers of avocados have already been sent to Europe thanks to this."

Some of the fruits that will be focused on this year include avocados, exotics like grenadia and passion fruit, pineapples and limes.

As well as visits to farms and packing houses, the participants will also see the installations at Bogotá airport and the Port of Buenaventura.

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