The physalis market this year has been marked by low production volumes; a direct consequence of the low profitability obtained over the past two years, which has led some producers to abandon the crop for more profitable ones, such as strawberries or corn. The situation is expected to improve in September, although there are no guarantees, as this will also depend on the weather.
One of the firms producing and exporting this fruit, especially towards the European and Canadian markets, is the Colombian Frutireyes, which owns 150 hectares of plantations, making it the country's largest physalis producer.
One of the firms producing and exporting this fruit, especially towards the European and Canadian markets, is the Colombian Frutireyes, which owns 150 hectares of plantations, making it the country's largest physalis producer.
"We also grow granadillas in around 15 hectares and passion fruit in 30 hectares of our own plantations and another 80 of associated producers, who are offered seeds and technical assistance from us," says Luis Reyes. "We are also negotiating agreements which will allow us to export avocados to Europe."
The company also works with other exotic fruits, such as pitahaya, tamarillo and baby banana, marketed both for fresh consumption and dehydrated, with a new line of frozen products coming soon; a move towards diversification which responds to a strategy to cover the demand for these products, although the largest share of the market still corresponds to fresh fruit.
"We also ship pitahaya to Hong Kong and we have some contacts in Turkey interested in dehydrated products. The Middle East would be interesting to expand to, but only with dehydrated fruit. We are also interested in entering the Scandinavian markets," stated Luis Reyes.
The firm is GlobalGAP and Organic-certified (the latter only for physalis) and is working to obtain the HACCP. Luis Reyes explains that, "with the organic production we expect to obtain 1.5 times higher prices. This year we will devote 5% of our acreage for the production of organics to analyse their performance in the market and find out if they are profitable enough for us."
Frutireyes is always ready to reach agreements with new exotic fruit producers. "As for our sales, we cultivate on the basis of our commercial planning and our main goal is to strengthen our clients," concludes Luis Reyes.
