QCOSTARICA – The agricultural sector of Costa Rica returned to the largest fresh produce fair in the United States to offer the freshness and quality that characterize our country. From October 27 to 29, Costa Rican products were promoted at The Global Produce and Floral Show, organized by the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) and held in Orlando, Florida, United States.
The Global Produce and Floral Show is the most important fresh produce fair in the agricultural sector in the US market, attended by nearly 23,500 visitors and more than 1,000 exhibitors from 60 countries.
The Costa Rican delegation participating in The Global Produce and Floral Show (formerly known as the PMA Fresh Summit) is made up of the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promoter (PROCOMER) and the companies Sema Foods, Costa Rican Chayote Consortium, Upala Agrícola, Piñales del Caribe GAC, Expogreen Sea & Land, Exportaciones Norteñas, Limofruit, Tropifoods EIAE and Compañía Agropecuaria Las Brisas.
The national products promoted at the fair were carrots, cabbage, beets, cassava, chayote, ginger, pumpkin, pineapple, taro, broccoli, strawberries, eddoes, bananas and taro.
For Mario Sáenz, Manager of Export Development at PROCOMER, the agricultural sector is a very important engine for exports of goods from Costa Rica.
“In 2021, this sector represented 4.7% of GDP, exported US$3 billion and ranked second in our exports, which shows that it is a sector that we must continue to support, and position it more and more in international markets, especially in the United States, to which we sent 44% of the total exported by this sector the previous year,” said Sáenz.
For her part, Nancy Brenes, representative of the Chayote Consortium, added that “for us as a consortium, participating in this fair is a huge opportunity to expand our business, learn about the competition and strengthen alliances as exporting entrepreneurs. Our expectation is to be able to obtain contacts from potential buyers in order to increase the positioning of our product in more places worldwide, as well as to maintain communication with all our clients”.
The Global Produce and Floral Show is a highly effective fair for fresh produce exhibitors because it brings together the main players in the agricultural sector of the US market, allowing them to show their goods to retail buyers, supermarket chains, private label and private label distributors.
This year, the Costa Rican companies participating in the fair exhibited their products in a stand under the country brand ‘Esencial Costa Rica‘.
In addition, on the website https://exquisitebynaturecr.com/, you will find the best of the exportable offer of the Costa Rican agricultural sector.
During 2021, Costa Rica exported US$3.041 billion in agricultural products, including pineapple (38%), bananas (28.5%), coffee (10.2%), other frozen uncooked fruits (5%), cassava (4.5%), ornamental plants (3.5%), flowers and buds (2.9%), chayote (1.1%), herbaceous plant seeds (0.9%) and other fresh or chilled vegetables (0.8%).
