A Peruvian grower that has been focused on onions, pumpkins and quinoa for the last few years is now experimenting with golden berries, but says exporting the fresh fruit is currently not an option.

Fundo America commercial manager Carlos Lozada Garcia

Fundo America commercial manager Carlos Lozada García told www.freshfruitportal.com at the recent Expoalimentaria trade fair held in Lima that the company had carried out trials of the fruit.

But he explained that the operation based in the southern Arequipa region was simply too far away from the capital city's airport.

Golden berries also go by the names physalis, Cape gooseberry and aguaymanto.

"The trials went well, but the problem with golden berries is that they are very perishable and so they need to be shipped via airfreight," he said.

"We are very far from the Lima international airport, and that means that for now it is not feasible to export fresh fruit.

"We will have to dry the fruit and sell dried golden berries, but first we have to do more tests, develop the product and find a good market and someone who is interested in supporting us. We still haven’t found a company with those characteristics."

He added that the fruit grows very well in Arequipa, and future improvements in infrastructure could boost the industry.

International interest has been growing in golden berries, and Colombia recently achieved landmark fresh access to the U.S. Peru is also hoping to gain access sometime in the near future.

"The U.S. is an interesting market for fresh aguaymanto, but we would need to have an airport closer with good services," he said.

"There is an international airport in Arequipa, but there are no regular international services."

Another tropical fruit that Fundo America turning its focus to is the pomegranate, and this year carried out its first ever exports.

"We have 10 hectares in full production, and another 10 that aren't as productive just yet. This year we will ship maybe three or four containers, all to the U.K., but in a few years I expect to export around 30 containers annually," he said.

"We are always looking to diversify our products, and look for profitable products that we can rotate with our other crops."

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