Peruvian agribusiness group Camposol expects to reach its full potential in the frozen category in 2016-17 by utilizing the largest freezing capacity in the country.

With a strong focus on frozen mangoes, avocados and blueberries, Camposol has two state-of-the-art freezing tunnels and a more recent investment in a processing line with high pressure processing (HPP) technology.

In a release, the company described the frozen category as perfectly complementary to the fresh fruit business.

Camposol commercial director of frozen, Luis Miguel Baanante, said the group's production volume of frozen fruit was in the range of 10,000-12,000 metric tons (MT) per year.

In recent years IQF (instant quick freeze) mangoes of Peruvian origin have found an extraordinary acceptance in the global market, reaching a volume of 32,000MT in 2015-16, which means an increase of almost 28% against the previous year. 

In the same period, exports of fresh mangoes from Peru increased by 21% to 131,638MT.

This came as a rebound after climatic difficulties that affected Peruvian mangoes in 2014-15, which led frozen export volumes to drop 12% to 24,914MT. In that year, Camposol reportedly saw demand that was almost five times higher than the supply available.

The following season Camposol was able to consolidate its position as Peru's leader in the frozen sector, increasing exports 37% to 4,406MT, and in 2016-17 the group expects agricultural output to reach its full potential with a balanced situation between supply and demand.

The most important markets for Camposol's frozen mangoes are North America (52%), Asia (24%) and Europe (22%), with 2% sold in other Latin American countries.

In frozen avocados, Camposol provides different cuts such as slices and halves in IQF, as well as avocado pulp produced by HPP tech that allows for a smooth pasteurization that protects the product.

In addition, just like the fresh product, Camposol's frozen blueberries have found very good acceptance in international markets and offer a strong growth potential.

"We are working on the diversification of the existing packaging range toward alternatives offering an added value to our clients and on the consolidation of our position as HPP pulp producers," said Baanante.

"Another development project is the search for a fourth crop, which might be strawberries – although this is still in the evaluation phase."

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