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 for China left for China, a container with almost 16,000 kilograms of red dragon also left by sea for Russia.

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. Other cargo will arrive at the Russian port in about 25-30 days, comments Remigio Villavicencio, owner of the company Pitarem SA, which has been producing pitahaya for six years and exporting red pitahaya for four years, and also offers a co-packing service, that is, it packs and ships the products.

Palora producers plan to send 1,000 tons of pitahaya to China annually

The container carries 15,820 kilograms, which is approximately 3,520 boxes. This export to Russia is not done alone. “This time we made a joint packaging service, basically a strategic alliance between friends and we managed to position fruit from Pitarem, packed in Pitarem and exported by our friends from FruExSur”, says Villavicencio.

Although he knows that shipments of this fruit to that market were made by air, he assures that They are the first to bet on this trip. He says they were very careful about the process before shipping. “It is a very delicate fruit, its processing is very exhaustive and must be very careful, for this we employ about 180 people, 90% – 95% of that staff were women.”

The expectations that Villavicencio has from this shipment are high and not only for them, he believes that it will open up the market for other producers as well. “I think we’re going to have a very good response from customers, hopefully they’ll continue to buy more from us.”

Ecuadorian red pitahaya is also entering the international market. Photo: Courtesy

The negotiations took time because Russia has been at war with Ukraine for more than a year. That conflict between the two Eastern European countries created problems, especially in terms of logistics, he explains that it took a little more time for negotiations; however, “through hard work they were able to reach agreements”.

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

The company has already exported this variety of fruit to countries such as the United States of America, more precisely to Florida, which was the destination of its first export. Also They were sent to Spain, Canada and Peru. “We have been supplying for four years, we were the first exporters of red dragon fruit with white flesh,” he says.

Every year, they send more than 25 containers to their clients abroad, and with the opening of the Chinese and Russian markets, says Villavicencio, they plan to export another 10 containers a year.

Exporter FLP hopes to double yellow dragon fruit shipments to China

Other companies are also planning to increase exports, especially the recently opened Chinese market. This is the case of FLP, one of four export 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 expectations regarding the volume of exports are important, we hope that hand in hand with our customers, with our production partners, with our team and with the support, as always, of the government authorities, we will be able to consolidate growth that at least doubles our current figures “, says Ana Andrade, director of FLP.

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

Ecuadorian pitahaya gets sanitary approval to enter China

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

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

It ensures that the market, after the tariff falls to zero, will continue to be regulated by supply and demand.

“When the tariff drops to 0, and the impact of the freight on the final price is significant and is therefore considered a premium fruit that does not have a low price, the tariff will directly benefit the producers, in the first place, and proportionally the whole chain, first of all by stimulating consumption and creating more demand, and thus the possibility of a larger quantity for export”, comments Andrade.

In addition, regarding new markets for the fruit, he reveals that the Agency for Phytosanitary Regulation and Animal Health Control (Agrocalidad) is working with its counterparts from other countries to open markets for pitahaya in countries such as Argentina, Chile, South Korea and Japan. , mostly. “It is done according to a list of priorities for each product in each country,” explains the CEO.