On Monday, April 10, Ecuador made its first shipment of yellow pitahaya to China after the Asian country opened its market to this Ecuadorian fruit, thanks to the work of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock's Plant and Animal Health Regulation and Control Agency (Agrocalidad).
“In April last year, during a visit of the president of Ecuador to China, China agreed to open the Chinese market for Ecuadorian yellow pitahaya, among other products. The Association of Producers and Exporters of Palora, of which Pukuna Farms is a founder, was then created to comply with all of China's requirements for the admission of the fruit,” stated Santiago Baez, manager of Pukuna Farms, the country's biggest producer and exporter of yellow pitahaya.
Thanks to this work, on February 16, China's regulatory body carried out a virtual audit of the production points in Ecuador and approved the phytosanitary protocols to export this fruit to the Asian giant. Then, on Monday, April 3, the Chinese market was officially opened. Pukuna lent its facilities so that Agrocalidad Ecuador and its counterpart in China could audit the production sites. To do this, we invested more than $20,000 in the audit alone and $100,000 in the collection center.”
The first shipment was made by air and was attended by the Minister of Production, the Minister of Agriculture, and the main representatives of Agrocalidad. According to the sector, it is a milestone that will represent a turning point for the Ecuadorian yellow pitahaya industry.
“The shipment consisted of about 7,000 kilos, approximately 3,700 of which are from Pukuna Farms. Ecuador already exported yellow pitahaya to Hong Kong, where it is a success, and we anticipate that it will also be one in China,” Santiago stated. “Right now we are in low season, but the new harvest will begin in June/July and we'll be able to increase shipment volumes. We think we could export between 150,000 and 200,000 boxes - i.e. about 500,000 kilos of fruit - this year, which, despite being a strong quantity, will not be enough for the demand we expect in this enormous market.”
“I don't think current production will supply the demand we expect to have in China”
China thus joins the long list of countries to which Ecuador exports its yellow pitahaya, but the sector already knows it will be one of its most important markets. “The US is currently the main destination for this fruit with 84% of the total volume exported, but it's worth noting that the largest consumers in the US market are of Asian and Latin origin,” stated Santiago Baez. “North American consumers don't know or appreciate the fruit as the Asian community in the country, so sending such a quantity of fruit to a market that, despite its potential, is in development, has generated situations of price instability.”
“Everything is going to change now because we are going to reach a market where the whole population knows the fruit and wants to consume the product; in fact, I don't think that the current production will supply the demand that we expect to have in China, where we expect to have very good prices.”
“The Ecuadorian pitahaya is quite exclusive. The Ecuadorian yellow pitahaya is considered the Rolls-Royce of fruit in the markets where it's sold. Meanwhile, the pink variety that is produced in the country is much larger and has higher Brix values than the one that comes from Asia; that's why it's sold to the United States market,” Santiago stated.
For more information:
Pukuna Farms
Tel.: +593 99830 6035
[email protected]
http://pukuna.com