Surviving the COVID-19 crisis by selling eggs in the streets

Coming from the underdeveloped world and living - for the time being - in the developed world has made me appreciate the advantages and disadvantages of both sides.

Ruiz B 90x90 Headshot
(Benjamin Ruiz)
(Benjamin Ruiz)

Coming from the underdeveloped world and living - for the time being - in the developed world has made me appreciate the advantages and disadvantages of both sides. With this critical situation we are going through, I have learned that resilience comes from hard times, from the fact that life is not easy and that we need to fight for our dreams. Or survive. There is no time for complaining.

While people at the developed world "enjoyed" governmental aids maybe watching TV at home during lockdown and beyond, people in other parts of the world, with no monetary aids at all, had to go out (hopefully with a mask on) looking for a living. One example of that was Ecuador, where the pandemic crisis was really bad during the first wave.

Last week, I interviewed Dr. Edgar Navarrete, president of the National Poultry Producers Association (Conave) of Ecuador for a story that will be published in Poultry International this coming July. We discussed the pandemic crisis, and the particular case of eggs, which turn into heroes during the lockdown, along with panic buys. Dr. Navarrete told me that overnight many people were without jobs and without governmental aids in a dollarized economy. They had to do something for a living. So, they bought egg cartons directly at farms and sold eggs right on the sidewalks. It also seems that very small producers that could not sell chickens in wet markets, slaughtered them at home and sold them.

Back home, in Mexico, it was the same situation. Staying at home was not an option. I know of people who took their Instagram accounts to start selling home-baked bread or flower arrangements among relatives, friends and beyond.

Creativity and resilience have no boundaries, quite particularly in Latin America. This specific small example involving a poultry product attracted my attention to show how difficult things can be somewhere else.

On the other hand, let us remember that at least two egg producing companies in Latin America, Huevos Kikes (Incubadora Santander) in Colombia, and Granja Mantiqueira in Brazil also innovated in their marketing channels during these difficult times. They used online selling and home delivery of eggs.

What do you think?

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