Since Chile and Peru do not ship the product at the beginning of each year and that in the highlands of the country there are suitable areas to harvest the fruit, it is possible to take advantage of the commercial opportunities that exist in the foreign market.
Specialists agree that in order to increase the production of this fruit, producers must become more technified, access to credit must be facilitated and marketing policies must be implemented.
Because in today's business reality many people prefer to spend more time at home and cook their own food, the demand for easy-to-prepare processed seafood has grown.
At a global level, changes in consumer behavior have been reported, because of the quarantines decreed in several countries of the world by the outbreak of covid-19, people's habits, tastes and preferences have been changing.
Guatemalan producers reported that for the 2018-2019 harvest, exports to these Asian markets gained importance, as Malaysia was sold 103,000 quintals of green coffee and 80,000 to China.
Figures from the National Coffee Association (Anacafe), specify that for the 2018-2019 agricultural cycle the export of coffee was 4.6 million quintals gold and generated a foreign exchange income of $663 million.
The plan to impose a 5% tariff on Mexican products entering the U.S. would open up opportunities for Central American countries to increase their sales to the U.S., but there are fears that similar measures could be taken against the region.
On May 30, President Trump announced on his Twitter account that he plans to impose a 5% tariff on Mexican products entering the U.S.
Guatemalan business leaders say that the opportunities for the sector in the future lie in the change in trends in consumption patterns and market demand abroad.
According to representatives from the Guatemalan Chamber of Food and Beverages (CGAB), in the first six months of the year trade in the food sector has grown at a rate of between 10% and 12%, and the industry represents approximately 12% of the country's Gross Domestic Product.
Guatemalan exporters plan to boost their exports to Asian countries through the creation of a working table that will analyze trends of products that are in demand and company profiles.
With the aim of increasing business opportunities in Asia, the exporters' association will be working on the development of new export promotion strategies with local companies and the Taiwanese embassy.
From 2006 to 2015 sales to Taiwan have grown at an annual rate of 14%, with sugar and coffee at the head followed by paper, cardboard, tobacco, shrimp, lobster, fruit, copper, and other products.
Although in the ten years of the FTA between Guatemala and Taiwan exports to China have not stopped growing, they have always been highly concentrated in commodities such as coffee and sugar, meaning that there is an opportunity to diversify taking into account the consumer tastes and characteristics of the Taiwanese market.
Sugar, coffee and lead are the three major export products to the North American country, but opportunities have also been identified for vegetables, fruits, fish, shrimp, plastic, wood and textiles.
Exports of Guatemalan goods to Canada up to April 2016 amounted to $141 million, 83% more than was exported up to the same month in 2015. In order to take advantage of the opportunities the Canadian market has for exporting other products such as fruit, fish, plastics and textiles, for example, there is a need to ".... strengthen sanitary and phytosanitary measures and improve logistics in order to reduce shipping times for the products".
Grain exporters are organizing for the end of this year an exploratory mission to Chile to find out about the characteristics of demand and coffee consumption in the South American country.
The main purpose of this visit to Chile is to find out the characteristics of the market and identify possible business opportunities, as explained by representatives of the Guatemalan Association of Exporters (AGEXPORT), the organizer of the mission.
In the last two years Guatemala has doubled its exports of biscuits, sweets, chewing gum, confectionery, and preparations for soup and drinks going to the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.
In the first half of this year sales by the food industry to Caribbean countries topped $20 billion, $13 billion more than in the same period in 2013.
Honey, flowers, coffee, textiles and tropical fruit are among the products that can take advantage of the tariff conditions of the trade agreement with Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland.
The free trade agreement with EFTA, comprising Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland opens the doors to four countries with high purchasing power and complementary conditions in Guatemala in the production and marketing of certain products.
On 21 and 22 May exporters and buyers from both countries will meet in Salinitas, El Salvador, to explore business opportunities and forge links.
From a statement issued by the Guatemalan Exporters Association (Agexport):
With the aim of bringing together small producers from El Salvador and Guatemala with exporters / buyers from these countries to promote business opportunities and generate business links the El Salvador Agro & Business event will be held on 21 and 22 May at the Convention Center Decameron Salinitas, organized by the Agricultural AGRITRADE AGEXPORT Platform, with support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
On November 12th the fourth edition of HidroIndustria will be held in which one of the exhibitors will be Germany, seeking new business partners in the country.
From a statement issued by the Guatemalan Exporters Association (-AGEXPORT-):
For the fourth consecutive year, the Laboratories Commission and the Multisectoral Platform and Commercial Information Promotion of AGEXPORT, will be celebrating on November 12, the Expoconferencias HidroIndustria 2015 event which seeks to publicize new technologies, provide training on the theme of water resources, and report on the commitments made in trade agreements and their impact on the productive sector.
During the AGRITRADE event held in Guatemala there were 1,700 business meetings between international buyers and Central American exporters, with deals $62 million.
From a statement issued by the Guatemalan Exporters Association (Agexport):
In the seventeenth edition of Expo & Conference AGRITRADE, 1,708 appointments were scheduled between international buyers and exporters / producers in Central America.
On July 2 in Guatemala City regional entrepreneurs will be meeting with their Mexican counterparts to explore business opportunities.
From a statement issued by the Guatemalan Exporters Association (-AGEXPORT-):
In order to support SMEs starting to export or those who have already exported but want to diversify, AGEXPORT, through its Department of Promotion and Trade Information has created the Macro Rueda Central America and Mexico, with the aim of supporting improved competitiveness of SME's and linking them up to natural markets such as Central America and Mexico.