The export of Ecuadorian organic bananas recovers in 2023, like that of conventional bananas. Its main market is the United States.
Finca Don Polo, from the Mundo Banana company, in the province of Santa Elena. Photo from June 29, 2023.
Between January and July 2023, Ecuador exported 357,140 tons of organic bananas, according to data from the Central Bank. Of that amount, 76% was destined for the United States.
“Organic bananas are bought by those who have greater purchasing power,” says Richard Salazar, executive director of the Banana Marketing and Export Association (Acorbanec), referring to the American consumer.
Ecuador is the main supplier of organic bananas to the United States. Furthermore, in 2022 it gained share in that market due to production problems in other supplier countries, such as Peru and the Dominican Republic, explains Salazar.
The second destination for Ecuadorian bananas is Europe : 19% of the volume exported in the first seven months of 2023 were for that market.
Ecological transition
In Europe, the Green Pact, launched since December 2019, has had an impact , which seeks the ecological transition in the member countries of the European Union, and thus the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
However, the director of Acorbanec recognizes that the consumption of organic fruit in Europe was slowed in 2022 by inflation, as a consequence of the war in Ukraine and the increase in maritime transport costs.
Of the total bananas imported by Europe, including the United Kingdom, 12% corresponds to organic bananas. It occupies the same market share in the United States.
In the case of Europe and the United Kingdom, that figure has remained constant in the last four years, according to a report by Fruitrop, the economic research unit of the French research center Cirad.
Recovery
Like conventional banana exports, organic banana exports are recovering in 2023, after the falls in 2021 and 2022.
Salazar recalls that, in the last two years, exports were contracted by the increase in costs in maritime transport and the effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on global inflation, which impacted the household economy.
The 357,140 tons of organic bananas exported in the first seven months of the year represent an increase of 5.2% compared to the same months of 2022.
While in value, exports reached USD 273 million, an increase of 11% compared to the same period of the previous year, according to data from the Central Bank, compiled by the Ministry of Production.
Organic bananas have been produced and exported in the country for about 15 years. But, with more momentum in the last seven years, especially in the province of Santa Elena, details the director of Acorbanec, Richard Salazar.
In total, between January and July 2023, Ecuador exported 4.2 million tons of bananas. Of that volume, 8.5% corresponded to organic bananas, according to the ECB. It is the first exporter of bananas, conventional and organic, in the world.
Salazar explains that, although organic production is more expensive and less efficient, it is compensated by the price. Per box of fruit, the difference is up to USD 3, between conventional and organic bananas.
While for the final consumer, a kilo of organic banana costs between USD 0.20 and 0.30 more expensive than conventional bananas.
