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Crystal Valley offers Peruvian asparagus year-round

By
Tim Linden

For Miami-based Crystal Valley Foods, Peruvian asparagus is an integral part of the puzzle with its year-round availability.

“Peru is an important part of our asparagus program,” said Katiana Valdez, the company’s marketing director. “We were one of the first companies to import from Peru and, because it is typically a reliable source for asparagus 52 weeks a year, the country remains an important sourcing region for us. It is because of this consistency that we make sure we always have Peruvian asparagus to supplement our other sourcing regions throughout the year.”

Valdez did note that while Crystal Valley consistently imports from Peru, it also sources from other import regions, such as Mexico, and it also has a domestic program which continues to expand.  “Having a variety of options helps to ensure that our customers are always covered in case of a weather-related or other unforeseen issues,” she said.

The past year has been one of those periods where the multiple sourcing strategy proved its worth.  Over the past year, Valdez said the company’s Peruvian asparagus volume has felt the effects from both El Nino and La Nina weather phenomena. “We have seen less yields and smaller sizes this year but we are still waiting to see how or if it will impact the coming year,” she said, adding that Crystal Valley will have increased volume from Peru this year as it continues to expand to meet customer demand.

Valdez added that the fluid supply situation has made it challenging to predict timing for ad promotions. “As an industry, we made an effort to promote last year; however, we had less volume than expected due to weather,” she stated. “Overall, it seems like the industry will be a bit more cautious and diligent when planning promotions this coming year.”

Valdez said Crystal Valley’s increase in volume will be reflected in both its green and white asparagus offerings because “this coming year we will be growing both our green and white asparagus programs out of Peru.”

Like most of the other importers interviewed, Valdez is closely watching the progress on relaxing the fumigation rules. “To date, there have been no changes on the USDA protocols as they relate to organic Peruvian asparagus,” she said. “We currently have an organic program in the spring Mexican asparagus season and we are constantly looking at new areas in the country which will allow us to expand our organic asparagus offering and availability.”

Tim Linden

Tim Linden

About Tim Linden  |  email

Tim Linden grew up in a produce family as both his father and grandfather spent their business careers on the wholesale terminal markets in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Tim graduated from San Diego State University in 1974 with a degree in journalism. Shortly thereafter he began his career at The Packer where he stayed for eight years, leaving in 1983 to join Western Growers as editor of its monthly magazine. In 1986, Tim launched Champ Publishing as an agricultural publishing specialty company.

Today he is a contract publisher for several trade associations and writes extensively on all aspects of the produce business. He began writing for The Produce News in 1997, and currently wears the title of Editor at Large.

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