VOA新闻杂志2024--Power Outages Threaten Ice Cream Industry in Ecuadorean Town

In Ecuador, power outages threaten ice cream businesses in the small town of Salcedo in the country's central highlands.

Ice cream production in Salcedo began in the middle of the 1900s. Women working in a Roman Catholic religious center there would make a fruit drink with milk from the area's dairy farms. One of the female religious workers, called nuns¹, began collecting the unused drink mixture. She turned it into creamy popsicles, frozen treats that quickly became popular.

The nuns sold the popsicles in town to gather money for the poor. But the people of Salcedo saw a business opportunity and began trying new flavors and methods. Soon ice cream lovers came to support the industry in the town.

However, a recent wave of power outages is threatening Salcedo's ice-cream industry. The daily loss of electrical power, began earlier this year. Each outage can last up to 14 hours. The problem is a long period without rain. Ecuador gets much of its power from hydroelectric centers which depend on lakes and rainwater.

Gabriel Pumasunta is part owner, with his two brothers, of the Polar Bear ice-cream factory. He said that if the power outages continue this month, they will have to shut down the factory. Pumasunta said that much of his product has melted because of power outages.

Before September, Polar Bear was producing 60,000 popsicles per month. Now, the small company makes 10,000 popsicles per month. The business has been forced to let go of eight of its 10 employees. Pumasunta is spending the company's savings² and those of his family. He now works on the plant's machines himself. His parents are helping³ to run the factory.

Severe business losses from power outages

Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa has not been able to solve the electricity crisis. The chamber⁴ of commerce in Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city, estimates that power outages are creating weekly losses of $700 million for Ecuadorian businesses.

Germán Soria is president of the association of artisanal ice-cream makers⁵. He said that before the power crisis, Salcedo had 80 small- and medium-sized ice-cream makers and three large factories. Now, 30 of these smaller businesses have had to close. Even the large factories are slowing production.

Soria's own ice-cream business is no longer operating. He said he stopped production three weeks ago and had to sell some equipment, as well as some land to pay his debts.

He said that the outages happen at unexpected times. That means buyers, like small stores, are unwilling⁶ to purchase ice cream because they are unsure whether it will melt.

Local officials say the power crisis has cost 300 jobs in Salcedo. The town is known for its fruit-flavored ice-cream, including flavors such as blackberries and taxo, a kind of tropical fruit.

New sources of power

The Ecuadorian government has bought some large electric generators⁸ that run on oil or gas. But as Marco Acuña, the president of Ecuador's national guild⁹ of engineers, said: "They do not have the capacity to make up for the current deficit¹⁰."

In Salcedo, the collapse¹¹ of the ice-cream industry has hurt the local economy. Dairy farms, fruit growers, transporters and small stores that sell popsicles all feel the effects.

"Before (the power cuts) we would buy up to 150 popsicles a day," said Maria Juliette López, who owns a small store on the Panamerican highway where tourists and truck drivers stop to buy snacks. "Now we can only take up to 40 popsicles a day, because any product that is left over will melt," she said.

I'm Jill Robbins.

Gonzalo Solano reported this story for the Associated Press. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English.

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Words in This Story

treat - n. something that tastes good and that is not eaten often

flavor - n. the quality of something that you can taste

artisanal - adj. made by a person who is skilled at making things by hand

generator⁷ - n. a machine that makes electricity by burning gas or oil

capacity - n. the ability to do something

tourist - n. a person who travels to a place for pleasure

snack - n. a small amount of food eaten between meals

1 nuns   

n.（通常指基督教的）修女， （佛教的）尼姑( nun的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Ah Q had always had the greatest contempt for such people as little nuns. 小尼姑之流是阿Q本来视如草芥的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Nuns are under vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. 修女须立誓保持清贫、贞洁、顺从。 来自辞典例句

2 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

5 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

7 generator   

n.发电机，发生器

参考例句：

• All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
• This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。

8 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 guild   

n.行会，同业公会，协会

参考例句：

• He used to be a member of the Writers' Guild of America.他曾是美国作家协会的一员。
• You had better incorporate the firm into your guild.你最好把这个公司并入你的行业协会。

10 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

11 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。