Despite the challenges of Covid-19, Peru set a new record for fruit exports in the first five months of 2020. The nation’s exports reached a record US$1.41 billion between January and May of this year, an increase of 11.6 percent on the same period in 2019, according to data from the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur).

After starting the year strongly, shipments fell sharply in the last week of March when the government imposed strict quarantine measures, before bouncing back in April and May.

“Despite the difficult situation generated by Covid-19, we have not stopped exporting fruit to the main international markets. This is due to the world demand for food, the implementation of agreements and the effort of the Peruvian business community to promote the entry of our exportable offer to the markets, ”said Sayuri Bayona, deputy minister of Foreign Trade.

The biggest increase was in citrus exports, which rose 41 percent overall to US$62 million. Mandarins registered a 50 percent increase in shipments to US$54 million on the back of production increases and strong market demand.

Grape exports were up 26.5 percent at US$451 million, mangoes increased 26.8 percent to US$329 million and avocado shipments rose by 7.1 percent to US$328 million.

The main destinations for Peruvian fruits are the US (40 percent) and Europe (38 percent). Exports to these markets increased 8 percent and 18 percent respectively. .