Small producers from Cuellaje, Cotacachi and Atuntaqui (Imbabura), in alliance with the company Interanza, are selling in four European countries.
During this March 14, 2022, a shipment of 21,500 kilos of avocado Hass (21.5 tons) left from Puerto Contecon, in Guayaquil, bound for the Port of Rotterdam (Netherlands).
The Ecuadorian product will be sold in the markets of the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany.
this is the second export so far this year. The first took place on February 24, with a shipment of 20 tons. With this, the Ecuadorian avocado exports to Europe exceeded 41 tons in less than three months.
The Federation of Fruit Growers of Northern Ecuador (Fedefrunor), which brings together 1,400 small producers from Cuellaje, Cotacachi and Atuntaqui (Imbabura), allied itself with the company Interanza to achieve this goal.
The avocado exported to European markets has the Sierra D’Or and Fedefrunor brand. With this, it seeks to position the origin of the Ecuadorian product.
The Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Pedro Álava, highlighted that the government of President Guillermo Lasso has prioritized the production of avocado, hemp and pitahayato generate employment and development in the rural sector.
“Precisely this product, like others that are considered non-traditional but with high market demand, is among the items prioritized by the Presidency of the Republic and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), an entity that provides technical assistance in production and support in internal and external marketing”, he said.
For his part, Marcelo Reinoso, president of Fedefrunor, assured that the medium-term goal is to produce 65,000 tons of avocado from Carchi to Loja and valleys of the Coast.
If that level of production is achieved, the income for the country could be between $1.2 and $1.5 billion a year. That level is higher than other non-traditional exports such as flowers.
During 2020, in the midst of the first onslaught of the pandemic, the avocado It has already positioned itself as one of the 10 non-traditional star products of Ecuador. In November of that year, the first shipment of the national product left for Spain. (JS)
