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COSTA RICA |
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Costa Rica Sees Dubai As Gateway To Middle
East
By Arno Maierbrugger
Costa Rica's banana producers association,
Corbana, is eyeing Dubai as its future hub
for exports to the Middle East. The region
has evolved as a fast-growing consumer
market for bananas, Jorge Sauma, Corbana's
CEO, told Gulf News during an interview on
the sidelines of the Eurofruit Congress in
Dubai last week.
Annual banana imports have almost tripled in
the last decade, growing by around 16 per
cent a year between 2001 and 2007, from
257,000 tonnes to 737,000 tonnes, according
to Corbana data.
Together with the fact that consumption per
capita still remains well below the average
of mature markets like Europe and the US,
"this suggests significant potential for
further growth over the next decade," Sauma
says.
Costa Rica is the world's third largest
banana producer after Ecuador and the
Philippines. Its export share in the Middle
East is relatively small at 4.5 per cent of
production, compared with 49.9 per cent
shipped to Europe and 45.6 per cent shipped
to the US. In the medium term, Sauma targets
an export share in the Middle East of "nine
to ten per cent".
This will be done in steps. Corbana already
trades with Iran, Tunisia and Turkey and now
seeks to establish new ties with traders via
Dubai. "We are actively approaching trading
partners, are trying hard to understand this
market and will start a campaign for Costa
Rican bananas," says Sauma. The Middle East
markets currently are predominantly supplied
by Philippine banana producers and
competitors will have to provide a cost
advantage.
Besides established trade and distribution
channels, pricing also helps the consumer
since bananas from the Philippines are
available at a very decent price that draws
on high trade volumes and cheap production
in the country of origin.
Costa Rica, on the other hand, has to deal
with higher production costs as the
standards of labour and wages, plantation
methods and quality control are higher. "We
are trying to be competitive," says Sauma.
"Our production methods are more
sophisticated and elaborate, but at the same
time our productivity is much higher than in
other banana-producing countries," he adds.
In 2008, Costa Rica accounted for the
world's highest yield per hectare of banana
production for the 19th year, setting a
record with global exports hitting $674.2
million.
Ninety-nine per cent of all Costa Rican
banana plantations are certified for good
agricultural production practices, for
respecting the environment and for
compliance with social, workplace and human
rights standards. The country is now looking
to remain one step ahead of competing
producers by becoming the first
carbon-neutral banana producer by 2014.
"We can offer a value-added product to the
sophisticated Middle Eastern consumer by
maintaining the high level of social, labour
and environmental standards throughout the
production process across our industry,"
says Sauma.
Sauma is interested in striking deals with
the big supermarket chains in the UAE like
Carrefour, Union Coop or LuLu, but also with
green groceries. His time-frame to establish
a trade network in the Middle East via Dubai
is "one to three years".
Corbana, Costa Rica‘s banana producers
association, has been central to the
country's banana industry for years. Founded
in 1971, Corbana is a public
non-governmental association whose mission
is to "serve national producers".
Its main objectives are to foster the
development of the banana industry, advise
the government on internal policies likely
to affect the banana industry and carry out
research. Costa Rica's banana export volume
was 1.87 million tonnes in 2008, valued at
$674.2 million, which contributed 2.7 per
cent to the country's GDP.
The banana industry in Costa Rica employs
some 140,000 people directly and indirectly.
The share capital of Corbana is held equally
by the government of Costa Rica, the
country's three state banks, and banana
producers at one third each. Corbana is not
a brand. It supplies international brands
such as Chiquita, Dole, Del Monte, Fyffes,
whose logos can be found on the bananas.
Jorge Sauma hopes the Middle Eastern market
will appreciate Costa Rica’s social and
environmental standards in the production
process. |
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