Importers of exotic items such as dragon fruit from Ecuador are left wondering how sudden internal armed conflict developments in the South American country will impact their produce supplies. On Monday night, a 60-day state of emergency was called in Ecuador following a well-known gang leader escaping from his prison cell. Since then, alarming events such as masked gunmen breaking into Ecuador’s public television channel and other violent incidents have been reported across the country.
In the U.S., importers such as Exotic Growers based in Homestead, Florida regularly bring in products such as plantains and dragon fruit year-round from Ecuador and white and yellow dragon fruit is set to hit peak supply there in about two weeks. “Right now, everything has stopped. There are no flights, no shipping containers going in and out and they’ve closed things so we don’t have anything going in and out of Ecuador. We don’t know how long this will last,” says Dennis Sever of Exotic Growers.
Shipments halted
That means packing houses have been closed and businesses remain empty given employees were sent home. “Today, nothing is going. Everything is still in a lockdown,” adds Sever.
That leaves importers waiting for news. “We could bring in dragon fruit from Vietnam but we don’t have any connections there. We have all our eggs in one basket in Ecuador,” he says. Exotic Growers receives shipments from Ecuador daily and containers weekly. “One shipment went out Tuesday but they haven’t been able to pick or ship anything since.”
For more information:
Dennis Sever
Exotic Growers, Inc.
Tel: +1 (305) 393-1556
[email protected]
