Mawi and Tenndo are recently created digital platforms that in the Costa Rican market will be dedicated to commercialize services and products of SMEs and independent professionals through the Internet.
Given the accelerated emergence of the new commercial reality and the change in people's consumption habits, online sales have gained ground, since due to the covid-19 outbreak consumers prefer to stay at home longer.
Although dealing with a demanding and challenging market with several competitors, companies dedicated to the transportation of people and delivery still visualize multiple opportunities in Costa Rica.
The need to access more efficient mobility, changes in consumption patterns and the upward trend in the introduction of smartphones and the Internet, have created a business scenario in which the demand for mobile platform services dedicated to the transportation of people and home delivery, increases over the years.
Under the brand name of Topo Chico, Coca-Cola began to commercialize in the Costa Rican market a carbonated drink with alcohol, which belongs to the category known as "hard seltzer" or "spiked seltzer."
For now, the drink will be imported from Mexico, but Coca-Cola does not rule out producing it locally in the future.
In Costa Rica, Topo Chico Hard Seltzer will compete directly with "Adam & Eve", a product of the same category that is marketed since 2019 by Florida Ice, Farm & Co (Fifco).
As a result of the fast emergence of the new commercial reality, several business models that were profitable until the first quarter of 2020, are now obsolete, forcing business leaders to rethink strategies to survive in this new scenario.
The spread of covid-19 generated radical transformations in the markets for goods and services, in the ways people work, modified several consumption habits, and even changed some tastes and preferences.
Due to weak competition in the local market, the prices of goods and services in the basic basket are significantly higher in Costa Rica than in nearby countries.
A report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), called the "Economic Study on Costa Rica", concludes that consumers in the country pay higher prices for milk, rice, vehicles and Internet services.
Increasing demand, new competitors of all kinds and the manufacture of uncertified products are some of the changes that this business is bringing to the pandemic scenario in Costa Rica.
According to CentralAmericaData reports, in Costa Rica since January 5, 2020 the interactions on the Internet associated with cleaning products show a clear upturn.
Because the transportation services provided by platforms like Uber cause people to increasingly question whether or not they need to buy a vehicle, vehicle dealers must face new challenges to keep up with sales.
The launch in the local market of 10 different products of roasted and ground coffee and in capsules of the Starbucks brand, reflects the increase of competition in the segment of premium coffees, which already represents about 4% of total consumption in the country.
The products that will be marketed initially in the chains of Walmart and Másxmenos supermarkets, are distributed by Nestlé, which bought the retail distribution of these Starbucks products globally.
Along with the possibility of investing $350 million in the construction of new facilities in the Puerto Caldera, in Costa Rica, comes the promise of more competitive maritime service rates.
The interest in developing the terminal expansion project has been expressed by SPC, the current concessionaire of the Costa Rican Pacific maritime terminal, and by DP World, the UAE state port company, companies that would invest in the construction of 800 meters of berthing area at a depth of 16 meters.
The lack of a competition law in Guatemala could expose the country to sanctions from the European authorities, since it is a requirement demanded in the regulations of the Association Agreement with the European Union.
Since the end of 2016, the Association Agreement (AdA) required Guatemala to have a law on the matter, since in 2019 a Central American competition authority would have to be created. However, it cannot operate, because there is no legal framework.
Although in the cosmetic surgery business the Costa Rican market maintains its attractiveness for foreign clients, in other countries procedures of similar quality are offered, but at lower prices.
Some of the main competitors include Mexico, India, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama and the Dominican Republic, but Costa Rica's main difficulty in competing with these markets is its high operating cost.
Because the Constitutional Chamber in Costa Rica admitted an action challenging the articles regulating mergers and acquisitions, the file approval processes have been temporarily suspended.
Authorities informed that since last March 19, the Commission to Promote Competition (Coprocom) refrains from approving or failing processes of companies that seek to acquire others or merge in the country.
Because Colombian ports have a lower operating cost base than Panamanians, the South American country competes to appropriate the logistics business in the region.
Until a while ago, Panama led the logistics operations in the region, however, there are some signs that indicate that this situation could be changing, since the growth in the movement of maritime cargo in the country has reported a slowdown in recent years. For example, between 2016 and 2017 there was a 10% increase, and last year the reported rise was just 1.7%.
Between 2017 and 2018, milk sales from Costa Rica to Panama fell 24%, explained by increased competition, while exports to Guatemala and the Dominican Republic increased 21% and 13%, respectively.
According to figures from the Promotora del Comercio Exterior (Procomer), between 2017 and 2018 sales to Panama of milk and cream not concentrated and concentrated registered a 24% decline, falling from $7.5 million to $5.6 million. The main reason behind this behavior seems to be an increase in international competition in the Panamanian market.
E.C. Rent a Car, part of Nicaraguan business group El Chele, invested $2 million to open its operations in Costa Rica.
The beginning of its operations in the Costa Rican market consists of the opening of a point of service near the Juan Santamaría airport, highway to Rio Segundo, Alajuela, which will begin with a 120-unit vehicle fleet.
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Recognized Brazilian company of backhoe loaders, telescopic, articulated and other types of cranes looking for companies interested in representing the brand and distributing their machinery in Central America and Mexico. The company manufactures and sells telescopic,...