Colombia Producers to Sell 40 Million Eggs to Cuba in 2024

If they are sold on the food ration booklet, each Cuban will be able to buy another three eggs during 2024.

By 14ymedio

HAVANA TIMES – Colombia will send 40 million eggs to Cuba before the end of the year, as reported by Prensa Latina this Friday, citing the Colombian authorities. The Latin American country had already sent a shipment to the Island in March, and it will have to send another 33 million eggs to meet the goal set by the Government of Gustavo Petro. The amount should not be difficult for Colombia, a country that in a single day is capable of producing 50 million eggs, according to the National Federation of Poultry Farmers of Colombia (FENAVI), which manages the business with Cuba.

The product has a high demand in the Cuban market, which is hampered by the multiple absences of eggs. In the midst of a notable shortage, to which is added the inability to pay the high prices of other proteins such as red meat or pork, Cubans resort to eggs as an alternative, although this product has also reached prohibitive prices. A carton of 30 eggs, as confirmed by 14ymedio in its monitoring of the Cuban markets, can cost more than 3,000 pesos (around 8 USD). This is double many retirees total monthly pensions, and just below the average wage for those working for the State.

The Cuban Government’s operation to try to alleviate the egg shortage with Colombian imports – just as Venezuela does – began a year ago, when the regime initiated negotiations with the Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA). The deal closed in Havana last July, but it wasn’t until last December that the Island’s National Animal Health Center gave the green light. So far, there have been 7 million eggs imported from the Colombian port of Cartagena.

The first eggs were sent last March. At that time, ICA briefly reported that two containers had begun their trip to Cuba, without detailing an arrival date. In them, 17,280 cartons of 30 eggs up each were loaded, totaling 518,400 eggs.

For Gonzalo Moreno, president of FENAVI, Cuba has become a “natural” market for Colombia, not only because of the political ties that exist between the two countries but also because “we can compete with price and quality,” he told Prensa Latina.

During his participation in the XXI FENAVI Congress held this week in Bogotá, Moreno added that although the Colombian poultry industry is also targeting other Caribbean countries with a view to exporting eggs, “Cuba is now the market.”

He said that they are also considering exporting liquid egg to Cuba, destined for industrial processes such as pastry. “A first refrigerated test container will be sent soon,” Moreno said.

Cuba’s ambassador to Colombia, Javier Camaño – who received as a diplomatic “commission” the reception of the eggs last March – told Prensa Latina that the announcement by Colombian businessmen to reach the goal of 40 million eggs sent to the Island by the end of 2024, “constitutes excellent news that demonstrates the great potential in trade relations between the two nations.”

Neither of the parties referred to how much Cuba pays for the shipment. In Colombia, an egg is priced at 581 Colombian pesos, which is equivalent to 0.14 dollars or 37 Cuban pesos. Although the value is only a third of the almost 100 pesos that an egg can cost on the Island – between 2,700 and 2,800 pesos for a carton of 30 eggs – it is likely that the cost of importating will end up increasing its price in the Cuban market.

Translated by Regina Anavy for Translating Cuba.

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