Despite pandemic, Ecuador exports record quantity of flowers during the Valintine’s season

Despite some shipping problems, Ecuador broke a record for flower exports during the 2022 Valentine ‘s season with 20,112 tons leaving the Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito, according to the airport shipping agents.

Ecuador rose producers shipped a record amount of flowers during the 2022 Valentine’s season.

The season lasted 23 days and accumulated the highest volume of exports since the Quito airport opened in 2013, according to airport manager Ramón Miró. “This was a significant achievement the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

In 2020, shortly before the health emergency was declared, 19,177 tons were shipped in the country, the second highest figure in exports in the sector. In annual volume transported in 2021 from the Quito airports, more than 272,700 metric tons including exports, imports and domestic cargo were handled.

A smaller but undisclosed quantity of flowers were shipped from airports in Guayaquil and Cuenca.

On social media, the National Association of Producers and Exporters of Flowers of Ecuador said it suffered logistical problem shipping another 2,500 tons of flowers during the Valentine season due to “lack of flights.”