[Economics] Good time for Ecuadorian fruit: 15,820 kilos of red pitahaya travel to Russia

[#Steeven.™]

Producers and exporters have high expectations with the opening of more markets. Work is already underway to reach Argentina, Chile, South Korea and Japan.

The pitahaya from Ecuador had a good week opening markets abroad. On the same day that the first shipment of 7,745 kilograms of yellow dragon fruit bound for China left China by air, a container with almost 16,000 kilograms of red dragon fruit also began its journey to Russia by sea.

The shipment to China arrived in two days, after the opening of that market to Ecuadorian producers who managed to complete the sanitary authorization process. The other shipment will arrive at the Russian port in approximately 25 or 30 days, says Remigio Villavicencio, owner of Pitarem S.A., which has been producing pitahaya for six years and exporting red dragon fruit for four, and also offers a co-packing service, that is, it packs and ships the products.

The container carries 15,820 kilos, which is approximately 3,520 boxes. This export to Russia is not done alone. "This time we did a co-packing service, basically a strategic alliance between friends and we were able to position the fruit from Pitarem, packed in Pitarem and exported by our friends at FruExSur," says Villavicencio.

Although he knows that shipments of this fruit have been made by air to that market, he assures that they are the first to bet on this journey. He says that for the process before shipping they were very careful. "It is a very delicate fruit, its treatment is very exhaustive and it has to be very careful, for this we employ about 180 people, 90% - 95% of these personnel were female."

Villavicencio's expectations with this shipment are high and not only for them, he believes that it will open up the market for other producers. "I think that we are going to have a very good response from the customer, we hope that they will continue to buy more from us."

The negotiations took time because Russia has been at war with Ukraine for more than a year. This conflict between the two Eastern European countries generated problems, especially in terms of logistics, he explains that it took a little longer for the negotiations to take place; however, "the hard work managed to reach agreements."

The company has already exported this variety of fruit to countries like the United States, specifically to Florida, which was the destination of its first export. They have also shipped to Spain, Canada and Peru. "We have been shipping for four years, we were the first exporters of white-fleshed red dragon fruit," he says.

Each year they send more than 25 containers to their clients abroad and with the opening of the Chinese and Russian markets, according to Villavicencio, they plan to export 10 more containers annually.

 

Exporter FLP hopes to double shipments of yellow dragon fruit to China
Other companies also project their plans to grow in exports, especially the recently opened Chinese market. This is the case of FLP, one of the four exporting companies that sent the first shipment of yellow dragon fruit to China this week, which expects to at least double the amount shipped this year.

"Our expectation of export volumes is important, we hope that hand in hand with our clients, with our producing partners, our team and the support, as it has always been, of government entities, we will be able to consolidate growth that at least doubles our current figures" , says Ana Andrade, manager of FLP.

This company also exports to other destinations such as Italy, Spain, France, Holland, Sweden, England, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, the United States, Canada, Uruguay, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Cambodia, the United Arab Emirates, among others.

Of the 7.7-ton shipment that arrived in China this week, FLP shipped 840 kilograms. Andrade says that the fruit comes from two couples of producers from Palora, in the province of Morona Santiago.

Andrade also has good expectations after the tariff that the pitahaya currently pays to enter China, which is 20%, drops to zero after the signing of the trade agreement that is pending between Ecuador and the Asian giant.

She assures that once the tariff drops to zero, the market will continue to be regulated, according to supply and demand.

"When the tariff drops to 0, the impact of the freight on the final price being considerable and therefore considered as a premium fruit that does not have a low price, the tariff will directly benefit the producers, in the first line, and proportionally to the entire chain, above all by encouraging consumption and generating greater demand and therefore, the possibility of having a greater exportable volume”, comments Andrade.

In addition, regarding new markets for the fruit, it reveals that the Phytosanitary and Animal Health Regulation and Control Agency (Agrocalidad) works with its peers from other countries to open the market for pitahaya in countries such as Argentina, Chile, South Korea and Japan. , mostly. "Work is being done according to the prioritization list for each product in each country," explains the executive.

 

https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/economia/buen-momento-para-fruta-ecuatoriana-15820-kilos-de-pitahaya-roja-viajan-con-destino-a-rusia-nota/