Exports in open market | South American officials hope quality remains
South American buyers of Canadian spring wheat and durum are hoping Canada’s new open market doesn’t damage the quality and consistency of prairie grain.
“We are going to be monitoring Canadian wheat,” said Luis Mancilla Lopez, a mill manager with Molinera del Maipo in Santiago, Chile.
“If for some reason there is something unfavourable, we will let you know.”
Venezuelan durum mill manager Freddy Rivas of Pastas Capri said he is confident Canada’s hard-won reputation for top quality grain won’t be thrown away.
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“We are concerned, but we also think that Canada is very smart and I think that Canada will maintain its quality,” said Rivas.
“In Venezuela we are very demanding and we want the best wheat, which is why we buy Canadian wheat. But we believe Canada is very smart and will continue to maintain that high quality that we demand, and also the service that we have been provided so far.”
Rivas and Lopez were in Winnipeg attending the Canadian International Grains Institute’s Latin America-Canada Milling Program, which brings Central and South American millers to the heart of the Canadian grain industry to work with Canadian technical experts on using Canada’s export grains.
Rivas and Lopez, who spoke with the assistance of a translator, said their companies buy Canadian wheat and durum instead of American or Argentinian grain because of Canada’s better consistency and conformation to specifications.
“We know that there is a control with Canadian wheat,” said Lopez.
“We know that when we buy a certain kind of wheat that we will receive the wheat with the characteristics that we have ordered. We know that there is a quality guarantee with Canadian wheat.”
Rivas said that is enough to counteract the geographical advantage enjoyed by nearby American and Argentinian wheat.
His company buys 85 percent of its grain from Canada and has done so consistently for 15 years, with the exception of two periods when the Venezuelan economy was disrupted.
Rivas’ company bought wheat from the U.S. and Mexico during a general strike because supplies there were close and could be brought in quickly.
However, Canadian durum is preferred during more predictable times, and Rivas said he hopes to see the proportion of Canadian grain increase.
His company now buys some hard red winter wheat from the U.S., but he will encourage his firm’s buyers to switch to Canada if prairie farmers begin growing that type of wheat in larger quantities.
“I want to tell my management to buy similar wheat from Canada instead, because we want to buy 100 percent Canadian wheat because we know that it’s clean, we know the quality is always uniform and we also know that that’s what our consumer wants.”
