Costa Rica is the world's leading supplier of pineapple, a position it achieved in particular because of the quality and sweetness of the MD2 variety, characteristic due not only to technological equipment employed and processes that have been internationally certified, but also because of the special conditions of the soil and climate.

However Panama is now making an impact on international markets, having recently closed a contract to supply the Dutch market.

Costa Rica’s advantage of having been present for a long time in the U.S. and European markets will not be easy to reproduce by the aforementioned competitors. As an example, Panama has recently planted some 3,000 hectares of MD2, while Costa Rica has more than 43,000.

Source: Nacion.com

More on this topic

Limits on Pineapple Cultivation

August 2017

Costa Rican pineapple producers are opposed to the temporary ban imposed by Senasa on tearing down plants on farms in three locations in the northern zone, arguing that it does not allow for replanting and will affect the 2018 harvest.

The National Animal Health Service (Senasa) argued that it took the decision in order to prevent the spread of stable fly disease, but pineapple producers in Pital and Cutris, Sal Carlos, and San Rafael, in Rio Cuarto de Alajuela, have questioned the measure and say that it will generate significant losses in the current harvest.

Pineapple: Both Demand and Supply of MD2 grow worldwide

November 2014

Responding to the growing demand for the variety because of its sweet taste and longer shelf life, Malaysia has announced that in 2016 it will increase by 70% its production of MD2.  

From a statement issued by the Foreign Trade Promotion Office of Costa Rica (PROCOMER):

Pineapples, Pineapples, and More Pineapples

September 2012

There is still an insatiable demand for growing pineapples, which has meant that Costa Rica’s export volume has been multiplied by 4 in the last 10 years.

An article in Elfinancierocr.com quotes Abel Chaves, president of the National Chamber of Pineapple Producers and Exporters (Canapep) who says: "If the market is demanding more pineapples, then we will plant more pineapples".

Social Environmental Guide for Pineapple Production

August 2012

Environmental Regulations and Social Practice have been issued by the National Chamber of Pineapple Producers and Exporters of Costa Rica.

The Social and Environmental Management System for Sustainable Production of Pineapple (SG-PSP) is the standard of good environmental and social practices, to carry out the Environmental Responsibility Commitment, established by Canapep on June 5, 2008.