After successful ExpoAlimentaria 2009 Peru confident about strong role in food sector

Posted - September 21, 2009

PeruNatura : New international showcase for natural and organic products

By O.W.N. News network

In spite of the global economic recession Peru continues its progress in positioning itself in the international arena as a reliable supplier of foods, with a special focus on organic certified, natural and ethnic products. In a joint effort between the Peruvian private and public sectors, conventional and organic certified enterprises presented a display of the country's richest biodiversity and industrial accomplishments during Expo Alimentaria and PeruNatura, parallel event celebrated in Lima this past September 9-11th.

Over 160 Peruvian producers and exporters from the agri-food and aquaculture sectors, and players in the food processing, packaging, logistics and foreign trade gathered at Expo Alimentaria along with 4,000 national and international buyers. The event was a great opportunity to meet suppliers and to share news on what is happening in the organic market, according to importer Diego Garcia of French firm Brochenin. Jorge Urena of Uhtco Corp., a Canadian-based firm offering natural supplements and foods from Peru, attended along with partners at Inversiones 2A S.R.L., who were one of the twelve firms recognized this year on Earth Day by Peruvian President Alan Garcia for their work in promoting biodiversity and bio-commerce.

The event was an initiative of the Peruvian exporters association ADEX and Promperu, the Peruvian agency for export promotion in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and show organizer Corferias del Pacifico, with the patronage of Scotiabank.

PERUNATURA new international showcase for natural products

Besides being recognized for its quality traditional food exports, such as fish meal and fish oil, Peru also specializes in unique ingredients and derivatives with healthy properties such as maca root, cacao beans, sacha inchi, cat's claw, camu camu, medicinal herbs, tara, quinoa and other Andean grains. Parallel to Expo Alimentaria these and other non-conventional export products from 27 exhibitors were on display at PERUNATURA, a project from PROMPERÚ and Peru Biodiverso, aimed at showcasing and exploring new niche markets for such natural products grown under sustainability guidelines and which are seeing growing demand in foreign markets.

According to Promperu, in Malasya sacha inchi, known for its high content of Omega 3, is already used in a baby cream, while in the Middle East tara has been introduced as ingredient to produce ice cream, and camu camu is being introduced in Japan. Jose Quiñones , director of export promotion at Promperu, stated that the goal to promote bio-trade in Peru is to contribute to the sustainable development of local communities, while protecting the natural resources. Bio-trade also represents an important strategy to diversify Peru's exports. For more information about Expo Alimentaria and the organic sector in Peru contact Lesly Vera G.

lvera@promperu.gob.pe