Quinoa trade in Andean countries: opportunities and challenges for family

Summary

Quinoa’s revival has roused much interest in Andean as well as in European and North American countries. This Andean product, formerly denigrated and destined only for self-consumption, has made its way into the diet of the urban populations of Andean countries and has now spread to the United States of America, Europe and other parts of the world. In the Andes, farmgate prices have gone up and the quinoa sector has become attractive to investors. A wide range of products based on this Chenopodium have appeared in shops – from breakfast cereals to healthy snacks, noodles, beverages, beer and even ice cream. These products are well positioned in niche quality markets such as the nutraceutical, organic and fair trade markets. Against this backdrop, various other commercial channels also: from the most traditional (barter) to the most modern (online sales), through to contract farming with modern processing plants with organic certification and fair trade labelling. This chapter presents the changes in how quinoa is marketed quinoa in specific segments of this market, through a review of the literature of case study research in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Chile.