This year's third harvest of Ecuadorian pitahayas is coming to an end. The production results and growth was remarkable and exceeded the expectations of producers. "Production is increasing every year and we believe this trend will continue in the following years. We have also greatly improved management issues and the fruit's quality; the experience we are gaining as a country is giving us an advantage," said Sebastian Bustamante, of Ecuaexotics.
According to estimates, there will still be fruit available in the remainder of the year, but in smaller amounts. The next harvest period will take place from January to April, and at that time the pitahaya volume will increase. "We believe we'll continue producing pitahayas every week for the rest of the year. There will be a lower production volume, but it will allow us to continuously supply markets, such as Canada. This market is receiving approximately 5-6 tons of fruit per week," said the representative.
The signing of the agreement between the United States and Ecuador is about to become a reality. Producers are searching for new destinations in response to the over-saturation of niche markets like Asia, where the supply is beginning to outstrip demand. "In the best case, we would achieve entry to the United States by the end of December. This market already knows the red pitahaya variety, so it is already used to eating this fruit. The yellow variety, which is tastier, is little known, so we have to work on our strategy as a country, export sector, and company, " Bustamante added.
"This new market would be part of our goal: positioning the pitahaya in North America. Once the agreement is signed, this fruit will have an interesting market share in this region. The clearest example of this is that the Colombian fruit does not reach the United States because it needs a steam treatment, which is a very expensive process. This means we won't have competition in that market. If the Americans like our fruit we'll have a great future."
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Sebastián Bustamante