Costa Rica’s key players in fresh produce unite in strength for the first time with a country stand

Costa Rica at Fruit Logistica 2009

Costa Rica’s bananas, pineapples, papayas and tropical roots and tubers are present for the next three days in Berlin at the 17th edition of FRUIT LOGISTICA, one of the most important European fresh produce fairs.

Europe is the second biggest market for Costa Rica’s agricultural products. Four key players of the Costa Rican fresh produce industry, in cooperation with Procomer, the Foreign Trade Corporation of Costa Rica, will be exhibiting their products at FRUIT LOGISTICA, namely:
CORBANA, the Costa Rica banana producers association
Nutrifresh de Costa Rica, the producer of new hybrid papaya called ‘Pococi’
Nayudel SA, a key pineapple exporter
B&C Exportadores, a specialist in tropical roots and tubers
Due to the fact that the agricultural sector accounts for 21.8% of Costa Rica’s total export revenue and almost half of total agricultural exports go to Europe, participation at the FRUIT LOGISTICA 2009 is crucial for Costa Rica as a country. More importantly, bananas and pineapples are Costa Rica’s second and third most valuable exports respectively, after microprocessor components. In total, all products exhibited at FRUIT LOGISTICA 2009 (bananas, pineapples, papaya, chayote, cassava, malanga and tiquisque) generated a significant €1,023.43 million in foreign currency receipts last year and constituted 64% of total agricultural exports.

Germany is a very important market for Costa Rican agricultural products as it is Europe’s second largest importer of Costa Rican agricultural products: German imports equal 20% of total European imports of Costa Rican agricultural produce. More than half of these imports are bananas and pineapples. In Germany, consumer expenditure on fruit per capita grew almost a quarter (24.4%) since 2003. Thus, fresh fruit supply is increasingly important for Germany. German consumption of fruit totalled €11,930.5 million in 2008 with an average annual growth rate of 4% since 2003.

Costa Rica Bananas, the World’s Best Bananas

CORBANA (the National Banana Corporation of Costa Rica) is a public non-governmental entity that promotes and develops Costa Rica’s banana industry under the slogan ‘World’s Best Bananas’. Its main objectives are to foster the sustainable development of the banana industry, to advise the government in the area of internal policies likely to affect the banana industry and to carry out research in the agricultural sector. For CORBANA, the quality of bananas is not measured just by their taste but also by the social and environmental conditions of their production. In 2008, global exports of Costa Rican bananas reached €517.6 million.

Papaya Pococí, a Novelty in Tropical Fruits

Nutrifresh de Costa Rica produces papaya and is currently exporting 80% of its production. At FRUIT LOGISTICA, Nutrifresh de Costa Rica will be introducing a new hybrid variety of papaya called Pococí, which was developed by the University of Costa Rica and is unknown to the European consumer. Due to its exquisite taste, this new variety of papaya has been very well accepted by Canadian consumers. In 2008, Costa Rican exports of papaya amounted to €847,270,000.

Quality Pineapples

Nayudel S.A. will be exhibiting its quality pineapples, which have been certified with high-standards labels such as FAIR TRADE, ISO 9000, ISO 14000, FDA ORGANICA, EUREP GAP and Rainforest Alliance. In 2008, Costa Rican exports of pineapples increased to €436.9 million. The European Union represents the second biggest market for Costa Rican pineapples and absorbs almost half of all exported Costa Rican pineapples. Of these exports, approximately 8% went to Germany.

The Passion for Tropical Produce

B&C Exportadores specialises in tropical roots and tubers. Among its main exports to Europe are chayote, cassava, malanga and tiquisque, which are EUREP GAP- and BASC-certified. Global exports of these exotic tropical products generated € 66.6 million in 2008.

“Having these four influential players united at this trade fair is very important for Costa Rica because Europe is a key market for our fresh produce and FRUIT LOGISTICA is therefore the place to be,” said Mr. Zacarías Ayub, Commercial Director of Procomer Europe.

Location: Costa Rica stand, Hall 25, Stand B-03 at the Messe Berlin, Messedamm 22, 14055 Berlin Germany.

About Procomer

Procomer is the official Trade and Promotion Office for the export of Costa Rican products and services. Procomer is represented in Latin America, the United States, Canada and Europe. The office falls under the expert guidance of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and helps all local manufacturers communicate with foreign countries regarding exports.

www.procomer.com
www.corbana.co.cr
www.canapep.com
www.nutrifreshcr.com
www.bycexportadores.com

Publication date: 2/4/2009