Brigham Young University researcher Rick Jellen predicted this summer that competition over quinoa would first emerge not between Andean producers and the U.S., but inside the region itself.
Such a rivalry flared last month as Bolivian authorities soaked 23 metric tons of Peruvian quinoa in diesel fuel and set it ablaze, according to The Associated Press.
Cheap factory-farmed Peruvian quinoa has entered Bolivia and has been mixed with its product, then sold as the organic, small-farm varieties generally grown in Bolivia, which command a higher price, the AP reported.
That has caused alarm among farmers as Peru is set to surpass Bolivia as the top exporter of quinoa this year. "They are trying to force us to lower prices," farmer Reynaldo Mamani told AP.
During a visit to Utah in September, Peruvian Ambassador Harold Forsyth cited high quinoa prices as a chief concern for his nation, given the role that quinoa plays in combating malnutrition.
"The thing is, it's an attractive product," he told The Tribune. "But it's not cheap enough."
Forsythe rejected the notion that the two nations had taken different approaches to quinoa.
"The thing is, we work very closely with the Bolivians on different fronts, we have a big friendship together, we have a strong neighborhood," he said. "And quinoa is part of our common past and we cannot deny that we have to work with it, and we have to see a future together."
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