Asunción, Agencia IP.- During the International Fair BioFach on organic products, held this week in Nuremberg, Germany, with the participation of a dozen Paraguayan companies, the star products that captivate the German market are Paraguayan chia and peanuts.
In an interview with entrepreneur Juan Olmedo, director of Hypergrain SA, whose company participates in this fair, he detailed the foreign expectations regarding Paraguayan organic products from Germany.
«The plan is optimistic in that here in Europe, we have customers asking for 10,000, 12,000, or 1,000 tons of peanuts, meaning that today the company’s production is below demand. We must produce much more to meet market requirements,» he explained a day before the international fair in which his company is participating ends.
Hypergrain SA is the largest exporter of organic chia, peanut, and sesame production, which is currently seeking to enter other markets with organic bean production.
Organic peanuts
The peanut plant is located in Barrero, Eusebio Ayala, and Cordillera, where they employ local labor and plan to expand by incorporating cutting-edge technology.
Regarding peanuts, they produce organic, blanched organic, conventional oils, and flours. Olmedo explained that the company is harvesting, with Hypergrain’s estimated peanut production around 6,000 tons. Of these, about 4,000 to 4,500 tons will go to the American market with organic certification, meeting the standards required and demanded by the AFD (Export Certification).
The company also serves the national market with local customers and small, medium, and large industries. «We supply firms that make sweets, peanut kuí, roasted peanuts, and salted peanuts. The company has become an important strategic ally of customers,» he noted.
Peanut customers in Paraguay are located in Alto Paraná, Paraguarí, Guairá, and Itapúa. The company has a strengthened clientele that is increasingly demanding its products. Peanut consumption in Paraguay is high, with significant demand growing seasonally, such as during Holy Week and winter.
In this context and with prospects towards the German market, the company plans to have a new plant to double exports in the next five years, invest in new technologies, and plan for food security.
Organic chia
Hypergrain SA has a chia processing plant in Paraguay, Cordillera department. In 2023, the company inaugurated a new plant to process chia with state-of-the-art technology and export certification (FDA), an opportunity when foreign clients came to the country.
Olmedo explained that from February to April, they have visits from four clients from the US and Europe who come to see the new plant and certify the products sent by mail. «They come to accredit and corroborate that everything we have done and said is built. The plant can process 8,000 tons of chia per year,» he said.
Currently, the company processes 3,500 tons of chia, compared to 300 tons in 2018, representing a tenfold growth in six years, highlighted the businessman.
The company expects to grow by 40% to 45% this year regarding the chia process. «We estimate that by August, September, October, we will be collecting around 6,000 tons of chia and exporting from August until April, May 2025.»
They currently have significant agreements with companies from the United States, mainly with Italy and Germany, for chia exports as main destinations.
In this context of commercial expansion, he reported that they are activating new fields to have more production and fields with organic certification. «That is the most important thing we have achieved in this new period to meet the requirements» of new international regulations regarding organic products.
Organic sesame
The company also produces and processes sesame. «It is the quintessential small farmer production because it is a manual harvest that the family collects and receives its dividends and profits,» Olmedo said.
The company estimates to produce about 1,500 tons of sesame, with the primary market being the Japanese organic market, and they are also trying to open new markets in Europe under new assessments.
Organic beans
The director of Hypergrain SA announced as a novelty that the company is also planning to invest in beans, mainly red and black beans, and the different varieties that Paraguay can produce. And they want to target the organic bean market towards Europe, mostly.
«We have realized that organic sesame fields destined for Japan can rotate with different varieties of beans, which the European market requires and demands today. That is news that we can enhance and expand in the course of the fairs we will have,» the businessman said.
Regarding beans, it is a way to provide another income to small producers because it would be working with small and medium producers, who would be benefiting from family and peasant agriculture. This is the intention with the bean plan, he stated.
Participation in international fairs
As the international fair in Germany concludes today, the next fair will be in Dubai, where Paraguayan companies, including Hypergrain, will participate to expand new cultures and markets. We have not fully conquered the New East market and the Arab market yet, and that is why we want to participate. «We are planning to have a Paraguay stand in that place because of the relevance of that market niche, not only a niche but also a gigantic market that has potential and we are not fully discovering,» said Olmedo.
Also, within this first quarter, they will be participating in an expo in the US and, subsequently, in March in Spain at the Alimentaria Fair.