Universidad San Francisco de Quito - USFQ
OP-6: Food and Beverage Purchasing

Ecuador is a small Andean country with a total land area of 109,415 sq. miles (283 kms). The total distance from the upper northern limit to the furthest southern corner is a total of 479 miles (772 km). Quito is located 1/3 down the way, making it very strategic ground for purchasing. The following table (Table 1) puts distances into context; most of them are cities where most agricultural fields are located. Table 1: Food miles/kms Quito to: Kms Miles Machachi 38.8 23 Ambato 132 82 Ibarra 123 76 Santo Domingo de los Colorados 150 93 Quininde 214 132 Guayaquil 421 261 Salcedo 104 64 Esmeraldas 309 192 Providers The university purchases 90% from national providers (a good amount comes from produce open markets) the other 10% are imported products such as Chilean Salmon, cured meat from Spain, and mussels from Japan. Organics play only a 10% of the total check. From this we estimate that 80% of food travels on average less than 250 miles, mean while products such as cocoa, coffee and bananas come from 400 miles from the south of Ecuador making that 5% further than 250 miles. Calculations where based on data provided for purchases done from July 1st to December 31st of 2012. Based on interviews with the purchasing department, the assumption is that the University spends on average the same amount of money for each semester. The data provided, provided for 6 months was multiplied by 2 in order to calculate annual costs.