The Minister of Agriculture of Ecuador, Vanesa Cordero, said the fall in the price of a box of bananas to $ 6.26 was due to the cycles of the international market.
In addition, Europeans don't consume so many bananas in summer and there's also more supply of that fruit from Central America, which affects its price, she said.
She also stated that they had met with banana producers and exporters to encourage exports and domestic consumption, as at the moment the country only consumes 2% of its production. In addition, there must be greater innovation in the banana sector.
According to estimates, the price of the fruit will rise between September and October. However, Eduardo Ledesma of the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador (AEBE) said that there were producers who sign contracts and others who do not sign them and that the price would remain the same for those who have signed contracts.
"Ecuador has a problem that Colombia and Costa Rica do not have. They contract all the production at a fixed price all year," he said, adding that many Ecuadorian producers don't sign contracts in the high season but sell the product at the highest price.
However, since they don't have a contract, when the price falls they are paid around 6 dollars a box, "that creates an internal unfair competition," said Ledesma.
He said that about 70% of the producers had contracts and 30% don't, and acknowledged that the world market is saturated with bananas.
He also suggested that the fruit be given to students at school breakfast which coincides with the Ministry's attempts to increase local consumption.
