The Sierra Exportadora program will promote sales of more than S/.400 million this year, as a result of the better linkages between rural producers and the export value chain, said the president of the organization, Alfonso Velasquez.
"To achieve this, we have promoted the development of business plans related to the most demanded products in the international market, most notably avocados, berries, cranberries, and oregano," he told Andina.
He also said that in the first half of this year Sierra Exportadora had supported the development of a total of 161 business plans from local producers. "During this period, total sales reported amounted to S/.201 million," he noted.
He added that, so far this year, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the United States were the countries that had the highest demand of Sierra Exportadora products.
Greater coverage
He also stressed that they were concentrating their efforts on expanding the number of families receiving direct support from Sierra Exportadora.
"This involved making a strategic decision to leave the comfort zone that was created around the provincial capitals and expand our presence in the most remote areas," he said.
Thus, he said, the message of innovating technical assistance and training for the cultivation of crops with higher international demand will reach more families.
This year, Sierra Exportadora plans to work with 150,000 families living in remote rural Andean areas, away from the provincial capitals.
Advance in sales
Velasquez said that in the last three years Sierra Exportadora's sales had grown by 400%. "That allowed us to create a management indicator that measures sales versus investment," he said.
In this case, he said, for each Sol invested in this program they get 38 soles in sales. "This proves the effectiveness of our strategy," he said.
He added that they spent much of their budget on technical assistance, training, implementation of new farming practices, and the product's presentation so they have a better market acceptance
