Orito banana and cocoa paste, among the exportable revelations of 2020

Non-traditional products open markets and break export records in a year marked by the pandemic

During 2020, a year marked by the pandemic, total trade in goods fell in Ecuador on15%However, the trade balance was favorable for the country with a surplus of$ 3,240 million, according to figures fromCentral Bank of Ecuador (BCE)collected by theEcuadorian Federation of Exporters (Fedexpor), which highlights a historical surplus in non-oil exports from$ 641 million.

This, when contrasting the$ 14,976 millionthat Ecuador exported in this area; with the$ 13,650 millionachieved in 2019, the10%plus. And as usual the list of products that lead this exportable offer are headed by theshrimp, thebananaand thecanned fish, in that order with$ 3,824 million, $ 3,669 million; and $ 1,171 million,respectively.

However, there were non-traditional products that marked an unprecedented growth in 2020 and that are classified as revelations by Fedexpor.

Its aboutorito banana, cocoa paste and ginger.

In the case of the Orito, which according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) has 5,456 hectares area sown nationwide; came to export last year $ 296.4 million, marking a growth of 169% with respect to what was exported in 2019.

José Antonio Hidalgo, Executive Director of the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador (AEBE), highlighted that from 2010 to 2020 the Ecuadorian export of Orito bananas went from7,659.01 tonsa465.5909.1 tons.

"2020 represents the largest export volume in the last eleven years. Before this year, in 2017, they were exported316,407.7 tons”, Pointed out Hidalgo.

For its part,Arístides Rosales, Director of Operations of the exporting company EARTHFructifera, indicated that the main actor for the growth of fruit exports is the transnationalDole, both for the United States and for Europe.

“The demand for other destinations such as Europe also has a tendency to increase, although more slowly. For its part, China maintains normalized orders ”, explained the exporter, who assured that the preference for the orito in those markets is given by the flavor, the ease of consumption because it is smaller than the finger, the knowledge of its nutritional contribution and for being an economic product versus other fruits.

Currently, according to Fedexpor, there are44 companies, 7 of which joined in 2020; that export orito to 35 different international destinations;United States, Russia and China, among the main.

As for the cocoa paste, it had a growth of 55% when exporting $ 72.4 million in 2020 compared to 2019.

Just as in the case of the orito that year, 4 new exporting companies were added to total 23 that send the semi-finished cocoa to 28 different destinations, the main ones areUnited States, Argentina and Japan.

ForFrancisco Miranda, president of the National Association of Cacao and Industrialized Exporters of Ecuador (Anecacao), the opening of markets for products with added value, such as cocoa paste, is a trend that has been growing in recent years.

"The percentage of exported product has increased slightly, but with the entry of new players to the processing market, one of them the companyEcuakao, it has been possible to exploit this market, which was previously much smaller, "said Miranda.

While,Merlyn Casanova, Executive Director of Anecacao, indicated that shipments of cocoa paste correspond to the7%of the total cocoa and semi-finished products that Ecuador exports.

Last year Ecuador exported$ 935 millioncocoa and semi-finished products,22%more than in 2019.

"Our main pasta buyer is the United States with more than 13,000 tons last year, followed by Japan, Chile, Argentina and Peru, all of them with an average annual purchase of 2,000 tons of cocoa paste each," said Casanova, who explained that this product is the result of hulling, roasting and grinding cocoa beans and can be exported as blocks or in kiblets.

Meanwhile, the export expectations for cocoa paste for this year and the next will depend a lot on international production costs, according to Miranda, who pointed out that the common pasta market is very competitive and with very small margins.

"With an increase in added value, Ecuador gains this value, it is necessary to export and explore new markets to be able to possess the product," said the leader.

For Felipe Ribadeneira, president of Fedexpor, The performance of these non-traditional products is due in part to the fact that, due to the pandemic, consumers in large consumption centers prioritized their spending on products with high nutritional content, as well as high quality and biosafety standards that precisely distinguish the exportable basket of Ecuador.

"These characteristics, together with the quality of the product itself and the continuous optimization of the production process, have made it possible to position these products on the hangers of the most demanding international markets, where their value is higher when these standards are met," said Ribadeneira.

However, he pointed out that it is necessary to articulate efforts so that, under a joint public-private effort, tools can be generated to diversify markets in this type of products with high expansion potential and, at the same time, generate conditions for new sectors and Non-traditional supply actors join this export dynamic.

Another non-traditional product that performed exceptionally well in 2020 was ginger. According to figures from the Central Bank of Ecuador (BCE), that year $ 3.8 million, a growth of 2.102%, compared to 2019, even adding four new destination markets to the four that already existed.

The main destinations for Ecuadorian ginger isUnited States, Colombia and Holland,where 37 exporters (29 of them joined in 2020) export their products.