Having recently completed its avocado season in Peru, Camposol is reflecting on its efforts to conserve water when cultivating avocados and other crops.
After the high performance the company experienced in 2018, the volumes produced in Peru this year have been somewhat lower due to the effect of the crop rotation. However, Camposol expects the Peruvian avocado crop to increase again by 2020. In Colombia, the company continues focusing on the expansion of avocados. The current sown area is 1,300 hectares and it expects to reach a production of 40,000 annual avocado tons, which is a similar volume as the production in Peru, by 2025. By combining the Peruvian and Colombian commercial windows, Camposol is increasingly closer to becoming an all-year-round player in avocados.
Camposol manages more than 90 percent of its fruits in an own channel and is present in more than 40 countries. Fifty percent of exported avocados went to the United States, 35 percent to Europe, and the remaining 15 percent to Asia and the rest of the world. In Asia, Camposol is very interested in Korea, a country with more than 50 million inhabitants that recently opened its market to Peruvian avocados.
“The Hass avocado demand continues growing at an annual rate of 4-5 percent,” said Camposol CEO Jorge Ramírez. “More mature markets, such as those from the United States and Europe, consume 3.1 kilograms and 1.8 kilograms per capita, respectively. China has only a 0.3 kilograms per capita consumption, so there is a huge potential we must foster there during the next 10 years. This super fruit, which meets the increasing needs of the world markets that demand fresh and healthy food, has an excellent future.”
One of the main challenges Camposol faces regarding the cultivation of avocado, but also other products, consists of ensuring a sustainable irrigation system. On the one hand, unlike countries as Mexico and Chile, the provision of water for sown fields in Peru comes from irrigation projects that transport water from the Andes to the coastal strip, so the absence of rain does not represent a risk for the crops. On the other hand, and according to the Camposol Cares from Farm to Family (CCFFTF) corporate philosophy, the company is aware of its responsibility regarding climate change and, therefore, is working in measuring and reducing its water footprint.
For five years and in collaboration with the SuizAgua organization, Camposol has been measuring the water footprint of its blueberries, avocados and mandarins, as well as the footprint in the industrial processes of blueberries, fresh avocados and frozen mangos.
The company also participates in the Blue Certificate program the National Water Authority (ANA) leads. The ANA congregates not only companies that measure its impacts, but also those companies that develop water footprint reduction projects and generate shared value through the work they do inside the community. In 2019, Camposol was the first Peruvian agroindustrial company in obtaining the certificate.
Within the community, Camposol contributes to improving the educational infrastructure of two schools near its operations and promotes the performance of educational days that emphasize the importance of water, so supporting the awareness in the youngest sectors of the population.
“All these initiatives are part of our strategy to reduce our impacts on the agricultural ecosystem and, therefore, we use natural resources in a responsible way, promote efficiency and continuous improvement of our processes, and foster the reuse of resources,” Ramírez added.
