Amid uncertainty over whether the domestic rice harvest will cover national demand by the end of the year and early 2024, imported brands can already be found on supermarket shelves, competing with local ones. At the same time, the rice industry is implementing a gradual process of importing rice from Uruguay, where 15,000 tons of milled rice are expected to arrive.

The rice that is already measured against the national brands is the Uruguayan brand, but it is not imported through the industry, but directly in the supermarket chain. It is a Blue Patna brand that is offered at Almacenes Tía stores in 2 kg packs for $1.99 and 5 kg packs for $5.99.

The offer of this rice surprised many customers of the chain, because in order to be able to check its quality and texture, a sample of the product is displayed outside the packaging on hangers in stores. “It seems to be of good quality, the grain is whole, not broken, I like it, you have to see the taste,” said Carmen Vera in Tía in the north of Guayaquil. The housewife brought a 2 kg box to try, because she said it was cheaper than the domestic brand she usually carries, which costs $3.19.

Luis Paredes was surprised by the cheap prices of the new foreign brand, saying that he pays $2.99 ​​for a 2 kg box of what he normally consumes. “I bought a £20 bag last week that was on sale but as soon as I use it up I’ll try this brand, it’s $1 less than the one I always carry,” said the customer.

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Meanwhile, in other supermarket chains, until this Tuesday, October 10, only domestic brands were on offer.

This newspaper consulted Tía for details on imports and demand for the brand of Uruguayan rice they offer, but preferred not to disclose those details. However, the Blue Patna brand is also sold in Ta-Ta supermarkets in Uruguay, a chain owned by the De Narváez Group, also the owner of Tía in Ecuador.

In the meantime, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) confirmed that it was a private import from a chain that had previously met the established conditions for working and placing products on the market. “Permits are processed in the order of presentation and until the calculation of needs is completed,” the State Portfolio stated in detail.

Last June, the Ministry approved the import of grass to guarantee food sovereignty after rice began to become scarce and expensive due to the impact of winter. This, according to the data of the industrial sector, affected 40,000 hectares of crops, which represents two months’ consumption.

For its part, the Ecuadorian Foreign Trade Committee (Comex) eased the conditions for the import of rice from Uruguay by temporarily reducing the tariff rate to 0% and suspending the application of the Andean price range system for imports for the consumption of semi-milled or milled rice for a total quota of 63,246 tons, until December 31, 2023, according to a document shared by Uruguayan authorities last July.

The Uruguayan rice imported by the industry will not be sold with foreign brands

Meanwhile, regarding the Uruguayan rice that has been arriving in the country since September 11 and that suits the local industry, Juan Pablo Zuñiga, executive director of the Corporación de Industriales Arroceros del Ecuador (Corpcom), clarified that it will not be placed in the Ecuadorian market directly with the Uruguayan brands, but will be reprocessed and repackaged with local brands for sale.

“This rice comes in bags with the supplier’s brand, but this rice is transferred to different mills to be processed again, so repackaged into national brands in each of the mills,” explained Zúñiga.

Regarding the reprocessing of rice from Uruguay, the Corpcom chief added that it will depend on each factory, responding to their processes on the type of rice they put on the market, whether pure Uruguayan rice will be packaged or mixed with national production. and then pack it.

Producers criticize the import of rice

Meanwhile, the supply of imported rice in the local market is not well appreciated by the manufacturing sector. The president of the National Corporation of Rice Producers Organizations (Corpnoarroz) Javier Ronquillo said that imports are not only harming farmers, but also the industry because processed and packaged products are entering.

Ronquillo assured that the importation of rice creates a competitiveness problem for the sector, as he assured that the local supply competes with countries with different economies and that have subsidies for their crops.

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“From the beginning, the commercial rice sector started with misinformation to create social upheaval and cause monopolization of consumers and part of the rice trade chain, leaving part of the industry unsupplied. This increased the market prices and was a reason to look for imports”, recalled the head of the manufacturer.

He added: “Because we have an importing government, it is not helping to promote food sovereignty, but, on the contrary, is trying to eliminate small farmers.”