Cuba boosts habanero pepper exports

The Grupo Empresarial Agrícola (GAG), belonging to the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture (Minag), has bet on habanero chili, a product that has a stable demand in the international market and that presents good profitability, and ventured into its export. Juan Carlos Anzardo Avila, GAG's head of vegetables and protected crops, stated at a press conference, “demand for this hot pepper peaks between the end of November and April, especially in Canadian and European markets. In the latter, sales decrease in summer, as they harvest their own chilies.” A new collaboration project between research institutes and the University of Havana has analyzed how much capsaicin this fruit has, the component that gives it its characteristic spicy flavor, which allows evaluating and agreeing on prices. This crop's productive potential ranges between 30 and 40 tons per hectare and the price of habanero peppers per ton ranges between 2,300 and 2,900 dollars, he stated. "The profitability of chili pepper ...