Pork production fell from 149,400 tons in 2018 to 13,300 in 2023, a 91% decline and rice production declined by 90%, falling from 273,800 tons to a mere 27,900.
HAVANA TIMES – The debacle that is the Cuban food industry is no secret, though that does not diminish the devastating scene of the statistics offered on Tuesday, which allow us to quantify the collapse suffered in just five years. Between 2018 and 2023, the production of 23 foods, selected by the National Office of Statistics and Information as a reference for measuring the state of the manufacturing sector, declined by 66.7%.
Spanish news agency, EFE, echoed the report as soon as it was released. From it, they highlighted with stupor, that bread production had declined from 493,700 in 2013 to 326,300 in 2023, by 34% as noted in the headline. It is not, however, the most impactful data. Despite the alarming numbers–aggravated by the fact that this is a basic necessity–a detailed review of the decline in each of the food products analyzed, the truth is that bread is among the least depleted products. Only preserved meats (33%) and lobster tail (20%) declined less.
Among the worst declines were pork, which declined from 149,400 to 13,300 tons–a 91% decline, and rice which fell by 90% from 272,800 ons to only 27,900; both are products of great importance in Cuban diets. The last five year period was also nefarious for coffee and milk, elemental in national culture, which registered declines of 51% in the case of the first, and 90% for evaporated milk, while whole pasteurized frozen milk declined by 49.6%.
In the middle tier, again taking into consideration their importance in the cuisine and catastrophic production, are pastas, with a 91% decline si