Producers in Azuero are sending their first two containers to Canada.
Compañía Exportadora Agrícola sold 15 containers for this season. Company North American will negotiate the products in the Canadian market.
Prensa.com reports in their article, "Melon will be sold at $ 15 in the Canadian market. Watermelon is sold to consumers at 40 cents a pound or so, depending on the offer, according to the Gremial de Agroexportadores de Productos No Tradicionales de Panamá."
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Canadian consumption of premium quality fruit and vegetables offers Costa Rican producers attractive possibilities for new export markets, a study by the country's export promotion agency, Procomer, reveals.
"Currently, the main exports to Canada are textiles, prosthetic limbs and tires, although some fresh Costa Rican products such as pineapple and coffee are exported," reports Elfinancierocr.com.
A delegation representing 30 horticultural businesses from Holland will arrive in the first week of September.
The companies will hold meetings with their Honduran counterparts and visit the main fruit and vegetable producing regions of the country.
"Several Honduran companies have successfully exported their products to Holland, which represents a positive precedent to establishing new trade channels with the old continent," Juan Carlos Ordóñez, Honduran vice-minister for Livestock, commented to La Tribuna.
The first shipment of domestic mango will be harvested in April 2011, and will be exported to England.
In Panama there are 118 hectares sown with export-quality mango. They are a genetic variation of a Peruvian seed.
“Panama sees this fruit as an opportunity to diversify its traditional export portfolio”, reported Prensa.com. “It is a new product to sell in markets in which the country already commercializes watermelon, melon and gourd”.
Frozen fruits and vegetables coming from Guatemala will be stopped at the Panamanian border.
The decision was taken by the AUPSA, the Panamanian Food Health Authority, who explained it as an “emergency food health measure”.
From Laestrella.com.pa: “During an inspection conducted by AUPSA, they found traces of the Frankliniella occidentalis virus in fruits and vegetables from Guatemala.
The economic crisis is forcing North American tropical fruit suppliers to lower prices.
Suppliers of wintertime produce from Central America and the Caribbean are finding that in the economic downturn they have to lower prices in order to keep customers.
Larry Leighton, president of Caribbean Fruit Connection Corp., Miami, said an added business challenge arises for suppliers intent on providing high quality, pricier products to customers who are willing to sacrifice quality for price.
With the exception of exported fruits (banana, melon, watermelon and pineapple), domestic production remains undeveloped.
This was the main finding of a study conducted by IICA, the Inter-American Institute for Agricultural Cooperation. According to the report, the country does not take advantage of its favorable climate and soil composition for growing tropical fruits.
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Exports of some products increased despite the crisis: meat, melon, fruit purée, fruit concentrates, fruit juices and medical devices.
Even though Costa Rican exports diminished 14.2% in the first semester of 2009 when compared to the same period of the same year, some sectors of the economy remained stable, and some even registered increases.
In his Nacion.com article, Marvin Barquero extracts details from the exports report by the Costa Rican Trade Promotion Agency (Procomer): "Melon shipments increased 11%, and fruit juices and concentrates 14.2%. Meat exports increased 12%, fruit purée 7% and medical infusion devices, medicines and medical devices exports increased 8%, 4% and 6% respectively".
The EU withdrew quality requirements for several fruits and vegetables, while Canada is reporting a decrease in production.
Quality requirements for 26 fruits and vegetables where removed by the European Union, but they were maintained for 10 products, the most sensible for the region, although they will enjoy more permissiveness.
Regarding Canada, "the official statistics authority of the Canadian government expects a drop in fruits and vegetables crops, as a result of less area planted", published Prensalibre.cr. "In spring 2009 there were 528 thousand acres planted with fruits and vegetables, 3% less than the same period of 2008."