Merel Bruinsma 
Volume of imports Imports of chia seeds into the European Union (EU) increased only 0.2% by volume in the period October 2017– September 2018 (Figure 1). Figure 1: Chia imports in tons per year, 2014/15 – 2017/18, year ending September Paraguay remains the biggest exporter to the European Union with 5417 tons, followed by Bolivia … Read more
Last Friday, Bolivia started exporting organic quinoa to China. The first 40 ton is being transported from companies in the Bolivian highlands to the Peruvian harbour Ilo. President Evo Morales: “This is a historic day and unforgettable for quinoa farmers, as we are shipping quinoa to China for the first time.” Morales visited ‘Sociedad Industrial … Read more
Larger import volume Last year chia imports of the European Union increased by 37%. This is compared to the year before, each year starting in April and ending in March (Figure 1). The four main chia exporting countries, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina and Mexico, exported a total of 16905 tons to European Union countries. Paraguay has … Read more
Smaller import volume For the first since the quinoa boom began in 2013, there is a small decrease of 6.5% in European quinoa imports instead of growth (Figure 1). Bolivian exports have grown a lot and exports from Ecuador a little, but Peruvian exports are much lower, in the year ending February 2018. The increase … Read more