Colombia exports first load of Bell peppers to U.S.

On Wednesday, Sept. 29, about 20,000 pounds of colored Bell peppers arrived at the port of Miami from Colombia, marking the first time fresh Bell peppers were shipped to the United States from that South American country.

Juliana Villegas, exports vice president of ProColombia, which is the entity that promotes non-traditional exports from that country, said the successful shipment is the result of five years of negotiations between the agricultural agencies of both the U.S. and Colombia. While the time frame to get this accomplished seems long, Villegas said it took 10 years of negotiations between the two governments before the first shipment of Colombian Hass avocados was allowed into the United States.

She noted that Bell peppers now join a variety of crops, including bananas, avocados, golden berries, blueberries, lemons, limes and mangos, as approved fresh produce exports for the U.S. market. Villegas said the Bell pepper was identified many years ago as a fresh crop with excellent export potential as the United States imports almost $2 billion worth of Bell peppers annually, mostly from Mexico, Canada and The Netherlands.

Colombia growers started producing the crop over the last five years and they have exported both fresh and processed Bell peppers in recent years, with Caribbean countries being their best customers for the fresh production.  About 70 percent of the country's $23 million in processed Bell pepper exports have been shipped to the United States.

Luis Ernesto Forero, who is an agricultural specialist for ProColombia, said the first shipment included red, yellow and orange Bell peppers that were grown in El Dovio, which is located in the southwest corner of Colombia in the province of Valle del Cauca. He added that 18 of the country’s 32 provinces are growing Bell peppers, which is not a traditional Colombian crop for domestic consumption.

He said the size of the market, the fact that Bell peppers typically offer a good return and the potential to produce Bell peppers competitively factored into the decision to recommend the crop to growers and to put them on the negotiation list for exports.

Villegas said the approval of Bell peppers is a triumph for Colombia but it is also a great win for the country’s smaller growers as this shipment came from a rural community of many small farmers. She said smaller farmers will be able to take advantage of the opening of the U.S. market for Bell peppers and compete internationally.

“The idea is to start exporting two containers per week to the United States year round,” Forero said.

Villegas added that by limiting the supply initially, Colombian exporters and U.S. importers can build demand. “We have to think long term,” she said. “We believe the opportunities are there.”

She added that consumption of colored Bell peppers continues to increase in the United States and Colombia believes it can be a viable competitor.  ProColombia will work with the U.S. produce industry to keep the correct balance between supply and demand as it is building the market, according to Villegas.

Forero revealed that this first shipment took 18 hours to get from the packingshed in El Dovio to the port of Santa Marta, which is on Colombia’s north coast, bordering the Caribbean Sea. “It took one day in customs and four more days to Florida,” he said, noting that the timeline allows the peppers to be in commerce in the populated East Coast market just six to seven days after harvest. That is competitive with peppers grown in the other three countries that are major U.S. suppliers.

The two ProColombia representatives revealed that the country has 20 million hectares on which it can develop non-traditional agricultural exports. Growers have been inspired by the growth curve of avocados, lemons and other crops.

Villegas does not see Colombia as a threat to Mexico but rather as an extra source of supply to help fill the growing demand for Bell peppers in the United States. “We are not a direct competitor of Mexico,” she said. “Mexico is massive. We admire what Mexico has accomplished (with its ag exports).”

She added that Colombia believes it can send a high-quality pepper to the United States to offer buyers choices.  All of Colombia’s pepper shipments are expected to come to the East Coast initially.

While Colombia does not have a large domestic market for Bell peppers, Villegas expects it to grow as supplies increase. She said that is the pattern that Colombia ag products have followed in recent years. The crop is grown for the export market but then it is introduced to the domestic market and demand grows. She said Hass avocados are following that same trajectory as it was not the avocado variety familiar to Colombian consumers, but now in-country sales are expanding every year.