SALCEDO, Ecuador, Dec 4, (AP): Ice-cream production in Salcedo, a quaint town in Ecuador's central highlands, began in the mid-20th century, born from the ingenuity of Franciscan nuns. Locals say the sisters would drink fruit shakes made with milk from the region’s dairy farms until one of them began collecting the leftovers, turning them into creamy popsicles that became an overnight sensation.

The nuns sold the popsicles in town to gather funds for the poor. But the people of Salcedo saw a business opportunity and began experimenting with new flavors and techniques, establishing a thriving popsicle industry that has made their small town famous among ice-cream lovers. However, a recent wave of power outages, triggered by a prolonged dry spell, is threatening the future of Salcedo’s ice-cream industry and melting away its dreams of a more prosperous future.

The daily power outages that began earlier this year and intensified in September can last up to 14 hours. They have come about due to drier than usual weather in Ecuador, which relies heavily on hydroelectric plants. During most months of the year, hydroelectric plants produce between 70% to 90% Ecuador’s electricity.

The nation of 17 million people invested heavily in dams over the past two decades, but it is now struggling to come up with alternatives. "We are living through the worst third-world conditions," said Gabriel Pumasunta, owner of the Polar Bear ice-cream factory. "We're plunged into darkness.” Pumasunta, who runs the small company with his two brothers, said that if the power outages continue this month, they will have no choice but to shut down the plant.

"We will have to work elsewhere,” he said. Pumasunta said that power outages have halted production and storage, causing much of his product to melt. Before outages intensified in September, Polar Bear was producing 60,000 popsicles per month, Salcedo said. Now, the small company makes 10,000 popsicles per month, and it has been forced to let go of eight of its 10 employees.

To stay afloat, Pumasunta has dipped into the company’s savings and those of his family. He now works on the plant’s machines himself, taking care of deliveries to bring down costs, while his parents have also stepped up to help. President Daniel Noboa, who was elected last year in a special election that followed the resignation of Ecuador’s previous president, has not been able to solve the electricity crisis. The chamber of commerce in Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city, estimates that power outages are generating weekly losses of $700 million for Ecuadorian businesses.