After the first shipment of 7.7 tons of yellow pitahaya arrived in the Chinese market, Ecuador’s foreign trade authorities in that country are preparing various promotional strategies and events together with Chinese importing companies to encourage consumption of the fruit in that market. recently opened for that fruit.

Paúl Peñaherrera, director of the Ecuadorian commercial office of Proecuador in Canton, highlighted the arrival of Ecuadorian fruit for the first time in China, the first shipment of which left Quito on Monday, April 10. Peñaherrera posted on his Twitter photos of the process of passing the shipment through the Chinese customs authorities upon arrival in the Asian giant.

The first shipment of 7.7 tons of Ecuadorian pitahaya is flying to China

“Ecuador has started exporting yellow pitahaya to China, great news for our country. At the Asian giant, we will launch promotional events along with local import companies to encourage consumption,” the official said.

Meanwhile, in Ecuador, the opening of the Chinese market is creating great expectations among pitahaya producers in Palora, in Morona Santiago, one of the main yellow pitahaya production areas, with plantations covering about 3,000 hectares; and where the fruit came from for the first shipment that was exported to China.

Gabriel Cruz, president of the Association of Producers and Marketing of pitahaya and other Palora products, emphasized the importance of the Asian market for his sector and highlighted the producers’ expectations that they will continue to cover the demand of this new destination.

These producers plan to send 400 tons of pitahaya per harvest to China, which will represent 1,000 tons of exports per year.

He assured that in order for the pitahaya to reach China, they followed the protocols required by the Agency for Phytosanitary and Zoosanitary Regulation and Control (Agrocalidad), such as Good Agricultural Practices (BPA), protocols against Covid-19, among other controls.

“Most of the farms approved for the Chinese market are part of the associated producers,” said Cruz, who pointed out that the Association gathers 95 producers and has been operating since 2005.

In 2022, Ecuador exported more than 23 thousand tons of fruit to different destinations, which represents more than 99 million dollars.

Currently, the United States is the main destination market with 84% of total exports, followed by Canada, Colombia and Singapore.

https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/economia/primer-embarque-de-77-toneladas-de-pitahaya-ecuatoriana-vuela-hacia-china-nota/

For his part, the Minister of Production, Foreign Trade, Investments and Fisheries, Julio José Prado, also highlighted the growing demand for Ecuadorian pitahaya in China, despite the fact that the fruit currently pays a 20% tariff to enter that market.

In addition, he revealed that the fruit also pays an even higher tariff (30%) to enter the South Korean market. Ecuador has already closed technical negotiations for the signing of trade agreements with both countries and Prado emphasized that after the signing of those agreements, fruit will enter those markets with 0% tariffs.

“In China, Pitahaya pays a tariff of 20%, in Korea (South) it pays a tariff of 30%. Nevertheless, the demand is there. Thanks to the agreed trade agreements, they will drop to 0% when they come into force,” said the minister, who revealed that Ecuador is the leading exporter of pitahaya in the region and eighth in the world, and that the start of exports benefits 15,000 families connected to the sector.