Camposol to expand asparagus production

Camposol, one of Peru's biggest exporters of asparagus, is looking to expand its asparagus production. The company's new CEO, Brazillian Fabio Matarazzo di Licosa, said in an interview with www.livinginperu.com, "a company like Camposol has to look at the market in a much more scientific way."

The company was in trouble in 2009 following the economic crisis and the administration was forced to make some hard decisions to get back on track. Mr Matarazzo di Licosa said that marketing, market analysis and a choice of strategies was the way to go.

The reasons for increasing production of fresh asparagus as opposed to canned is because the latter has much competition from China and other Peruvian companies and fresh asparagus is more profitable.

Camposol is looking into launching a brand or buying one off the market. Fabio says, "We could have an umbrella brand and then sub-brands for some categories. We have the vision to be a multinational company with presence in all markets and we need an identification brand. The alternative of seeking a new brand will cost more, while buying an existing one and capitalizing it will perhaps be the best thing to do."

The company has 6,000 hectares in production, of which 2,500 are asparagus and another 2,500 avocado, while the rest is divided into mandarins, piquillo peppers and grapes.