From the Pica oasis, between two giants, the Atacama Desert, the driest in the world, and the South American high plains with its ancient culture, unique premium quality fruits for gourmet markets»
The Pica oasis is unique in Chile, and it is located in the most arid extreme place of the world, the Atacama desert. Its agroclimatic conditions allow the development of agriculture off-season giving the products unique organoleptic characteristics.
The sweetness, aroma, flavor and texture make the fruits exclusive products. Today, the oasis has diversified the agriculture, adding to its distinctive fruits like PICA LEMON, MANGO, TANGELO, GRAPEFRUIT, ORANGE and GUAVAS, new products in the horticultural field, such as strawberries, dates, tomatoes, various vegetables, mainly .
Due to its geographical characteristics and water supply, the area for agriculture is restricted, thus the product offer is limited. In addition to this fact, the exclusivity and organoleptic characteristics of the products, the commercial orientation of the Export Company, prioritizes a business model for gourmet niche markets.
The main challenge in which the Exporting Company is now engaged, is adding value to the agricultural production of its associates, and all producers of the oasis. Today’s partners have Visual Exporting Traceability and are certified with Standard Global Gap, so they may enter the markets of the world. Management certifications are seeking to develop sustainable social characteristics for their products (Water footprint, Carbon footprint, Organic certification, Fair trade). The fruit production in the oasis covers 327 hectares. It also has great importance the production of oranges (93 ha), mango (77 ha) and traditional subtle lemon or Pica lemon ( 66 ha).
Pica Lemon, gourmet market
The Pica Lemon marketed by the Pica Fruits Export Company, with seal of origin, is a small fruit, spherical or oval with convex base and sometimes with small neck. Apex slightly convex with small sunken nipple, thin peel with smooth surface and very attached, green and yellowish green at maturity: 9-12 segments with a very juicy and solid small shaft, flesh pale green, fine grained, highly acidic, with a distinctive flavor and aroma, 3 to 5 seeds, small and white. The trees bear fruits all year round, but most abundantly from May to October.
Characteristics that differentiate products from the competitors
The Pica Lemon has two qualities that distinguish it from its substitutes: The first distinctive quality is its small size, thin peel and unique aroma. Furthermore, unlike other limes, the acidic aroma makes the difference, which is determined by the high content of limonene (essential oil) in the shell, which ranges between 45 and 50 %, in contrast to other limes such as the ones from the Peru, and the subtle lemon of Vallenar, Ovalle, Chile producing areas. The content of limonene fluctuates between 5 and 13 %. The second acquired quality first allowed to test and second to demonstrate that the fruit produced in Pica is unique in its qualities. From this, it achieved a geographical indication (GI) or Origin Label which protects it.
MANGO FROM PICA
The mango (Mangifera indica L.) is a fruit of Indo-Burmese origin (North India) or Malay, probably cultivated over 4000 years ago, Popenoe 1920, cited by Guy ( 1990) mentioned already in the books of the Vedas, which are the sacred Hindu scriptures (Galán, 1990). In relatively recent times, it was taken to the Southern Philippines and East Africa. Portuguese sailors took it to Brazil in 1646, while the Spaniards took the mango to Manila by 1700. There is no chronicle about the time of introduction in Latin America.
Features and Benefits of Pica Mango:
The aroma and sweetness make it unique and stand out from other varieties. It has two abundant productions a year.
PICA TANGELO
It is a hybrid of mandarin and grapefruit. A vigorous tree with a rounded form. Its branches have a sloping trend and has dense light green leaves. It produces sweet fruits like oranges with excellent flavor. It is a thin-skinned fruit with some difficulty to peel, deep orange color. Its pulp is firm and juicy and the taste is something different to clementines but nice. It has few seeds when there is no pollination.
GRAPEFRUITS, ORANGES, GUAVAS, AND DATES
Other characteristic fruits of the oasis are the oranges, guavas and dates. These are characterized as the other products for their sweetness and aroma that allow to differentiate them from other producing areas.
Of the total area of fruit trees in the oasis (327 hectares) 28%, that is to say, 93 hectares, are used for oranges, exceeding the surface of lemons (66 hectares) and mango (77 ha).
The grapefruit is a subtropical citrus tree known for its bitter and semi-sweet fruit, a hybrid introduced in Pica in the eighteenth century. It acquired the characteristics that give to it, unique growing conditions of an oasis that is located on the driest desert of the world.
As the grapefruit, and other fruits, the Pica Orange is well-known for its sweetness, a characteristic of the fruits produced in the oasis.
Guavas are plants of the of Myrtle Psidium family, which contains about 100 species of tropical shrubs. These are native from Mexico, Central America and northern South America. In Pica it is produced abundantly and it stands out for its aroma and sweetness.
The date is obtained from the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera). The fruit is considered a sweetener by about 70% sugar. In Pica, there is an important crop of this fruit in some of the properties named Esmeralda Ranch, member of the Pica Fruit Export Company.