In the country during 2018, foreign sales of fertile eggs, whose main destination is Central America, reached $6.9 million, 32% more than what was reported in 2017.
Figures from the National Association of Poultry Farmers of Panama (Anavip) detail that between 2017 and 2018, exports increased by $1.7 million, going from $5.2 million to $6.9 million.
The poultry farmers' union reports that in 2018 the gross value produced by the poultry sector, which includes chicken meat and eggs, totaled $390 million, 2% more than in the previous year.
Figures from the National Association of Poultry Farmers of Panama (Anavip) detail that last year the production of chicken meat was 110 million birds, while egg production totaled 704 million units.
The union of agricultural producers claims that the government has granted an excessive amount of import permits for laying hens, and because of that they project an oversupply of eggs in the local market.
Dominican producers estimate that import permits recently granted by the Ministry of Agriculture will lead to an "... increase of more than more than 1.2 billion eggs in three years, equivalent to 49% of current production."
The farm Acre Farms has voluntarily withdrawn more than 200 million eggs, due to the possible contamination of the product with the bacterium Salmonella braenderup.
From a statement issued by the Panamanian Food Safety Authority:
April 16, 2018.Through this communication, the Panamanian Food Safety Authority wishes to make known that eggs from the farm Rose Acre Farms, withdrawn from the US market, are not registered with the Authority, therefore they can not enter the country.
The plant that Industrial Group El Granjero started operating in Masaya has the capacity to process 18 thousand liters of pasteurized eggs per day.
The plant has an area of 21,600 square meters and can process 396 thousand eggs per day. For the first year of operation representatives of Grupo El Farmer Industrial project exporting $14 million worth of egg products.
Using the processing plant that Grupo Industrial El Granjero is building in Masaya, $14 million worth whole eggs, whites and yolks, are planned to be exported in the first year of operation.
The 3,000-square-meter plant, located in the Zona Franca Industrial Zone El Granjero, has the capacity to produce more than 400 tons during its first year of operation, according statements made to Elnuevodiario.com.ni by company representatives.
Driven by an increase in local consumption, the Nicaraguan poultry union plans to produce 766 million units this year.
The National Association of Poultry Farmers and Food Producers (ANAP) reports that the illegal entry of the product is one of the factors that is preventing them from raising production further in order to support the growth in consumption. According to the union, per capita egg consumption in 2015 was 124 units.
Poultry farmers this year projected they will produce 657 million units, 11% more than last year.
The Nicaraguan Egg Commission in conjunction with the National Association of Poultry Farmers and Food Producers (ANAP) has projected an 11% increase in production of egg units this 2016, thanks to the fact that in November 2015 the sector had grown by 9.2 % and it reached 18.1 million boxes in the first eleven months of the year, reported Elnuevodiario.com.ni.
The plant has the capacity to produce 25 tons a week of liquid egg to supply the local food industry.
With an initial investment of $2 million the plant in Naranjo, Alajuela has become operational producing liquid eggs and will focus on supplying local businesses. Innovo, which runs the plant, is made up of the companies Granja Avícola Las Palmas and Granja Piedras Negras.