The taste and intense green colour of its broccolis opened the way to the European market for the exporter Ecofroz, which started shipping the frozen product in 1996.
The facilities of this company, located 3,000 metres above sea level, give employment to 900 people who make sure that the product reaches supermarkets, restaurants and hotels in Germany, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, etc.
According to Rodrigo Darquea, general manager of the firm, entering the European market was a process that "started naturally" because of the high demand for the product and the low levels of competition that existed a few decades ago.
The first buyer in the European Union (EU) was Germany; a country that last year became the main destination for Ecuadorian products. From January to July 2016, exports to that country were worth a total of 328 million dollars; i.e. 19.8% of the total exports to the EU.
Until the late 1990's, Ecofroz exports were intended exclusively for the German market. Now, 35% goes to the EU. Darquea believes that the trade agreement with the EU will make it easier to remain on the market and even achieve at least a 3% growth in the coming years.
On 17 October, the European Council is expected to discuss and approve the agreement with Ecuador, but it still needs the approval of the parliaments of both parties; a process that should be completed by the end of the year.
If that does not happen, tariffs will have to be paid from 1 January 2017 for the entry of Ecuadorian products into the European market. That of broccoli, for example, will amount to 14.9%.
The process, from the moment the broccoli is harvested until it is shipped by sea bound for Europe, can take just 24 hours.
The country as a whole exports a total of 60,000 tonnes per year (25,000 tonnes go to the EU). Of that volume, the company's shipments account for 30%. Broccoli exporting firms in the country have their plantations in the provinces of Cotopaxi and Pichincha. One of them is the La Victoria farm, of the firm Pusuachi SA, where workers harvest the broccolis by hand. This company, located in Machachi, has been exporting for 27 years and 40% of its production goes to the EU.
One of Ecuador's advantages, according to Rodrigo Gómez de la Torre, president of the Association of Fruit and Vegetables (Aprofel), is the hand picking process. "As it guarantees the delivery of a better quality product. (...) The sector directly generates 6,000 jobs nationwide."
For other sectors, such as bananas, the failure to reach an agreement with the EU has already had an impact.
A box of Ecuadorian bananas costs $ 0.54 more than those of other countries which have already signed a trade agreement with the Europeans. Consequently, buyers in the EU are asking the local exporters to adjust their prices in future sales.
"My main customer is pushing me for the treaty to be signed; otherwise they will buy bananas at a lower price from other countries. If an agreement is reached, we could grow by 20%," said Alfredo Montalvo, partner of Fruta Rica, who founded the company in 2000 together with Salomón Fadul in Machala, El Oro.
Montalvo owned a banana company together with other partners, but after the El Niño phenomenon severely hit the plantations in 1998, they went bankrupt and he joined with Fadul to create an exporting firm.
For this company, unlike in the case of others, gaining access to the European market took them months. In 2001, it made its first shipment of 140,000 boxes of bananas to Germany. Today the business with the German customer continues and 90% of Fruta Rica's exports go to that country; the rest goes to China and Lithuania. Every week, they produce about 66,000 boxes of bananas.
Source: elcomercio.com
