Another South American country, Peru, showcased its range of produce after it was revealed that total exports to the UAE grew by 700% between 2011-14.
Nine food sector companies from Peru participated at the event, and according to Ernst & Young’s 2014/5 Peru Business & Investment Guide, in addition to being the number one exporter of organic coffee and producer of paprika, organic bananas, fishmeal and fish oil, Peru is the second ranked exporter of asparagus and avocados, number four exporter of evaporated milk and top 10 mango producer.
Trade, Tourism and Investment Office of Peru in the UAE’s Santisteban told Caterer Middle East: “We saw a growth of more than 700% in terms of our exports. The region represents a new frontier for us.”
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He said that Peruvian exports are already very consolidated in the American and European market, and the GCC is one of the platforms where the company wants to capitalise on. Santisteban added: “In addition to the UAE, Saudi Arabia has shown a very big growth, as well as Kuwait and Qatar.”
He continued: “The latest figures that we received, in terms of fresh produce, from 2013-2014, is that the exports of fresh produce from Peru to Dubai have increased by 250%. This is the most solid market. The US increased by 45%, Europe increased by 40%.”
Peruvian aquaculture is also an important economic contributor with $89.4 million worth of exports recorded in Q1 2014, which represented a 62% increase over the same period in 2013, according to the Association of Exporters.
However, Santisteban said: “We would like to see our growth on the seafood side. We had a good start a couple of years ago but it hasn’t grown like the other sectors have. So we’re going to focus on that.”
The firm also plans to fortify its presence on the superfood side, along with increasing citrus food exports, and on avocados, mangoes, grapes and asparagus.
Companies at the Peru National Pavilion showcased products including fruits and vegetables, quinoa grains and flour, raw cacao powder, chia drinks, spices, gourmet dips, evaporated milk, dried fruits, fair trade jams and juices, and organic coffee.
Moving to the North American continent, Canada Beef, which markets and promotes the Canadian cattle and beef industry around the world, used its presence to speak about the organisation’s latest developments, and the state of Canadian beef in the region at the moment.
Serapiglia detailed how the producers from Canada were continuing to focus on supplying premium beef to the region. “The focus is on premium retail and premium foodservice,” he said. “It’s strategically focused [on markets] which are not price sensitive. Canadian product is world class, it’s grain finished, well-marbled, very flavourful and tender.
“It’s definitely not a least-cost product. We have expensive production systems, there is the freight logistics, so it is very niche-specific.”
Canada Beef has been active in the region at trade shows and with its branding series over the last five years. Serpaiglia explained how demands were evolving to secondary cuts, such as hind cuts and shoulder cuts.
“The demand is for aged, grain-finished, well-marbled product. Middle meats [loin and rib cuts] sell all the time. We’ve seen an increase in trade of complete carcasses, we’ve seen the market start to diversify in what it offers. We see premium gourmet burger opportunities come out of this growing demand; we also see alternative steak opportunities.”
All in all, the exhibitors exuded a sense of confidence in the region and their products, with expansion well on the cards.
The 21st edition of Gulfood will be held from February 21-25, 2016 — will you be there?
Read more from the extensive Gulfood report in the March 2015 issue of Caterer Middle East
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