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.
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