From January to June 2020, bottled water imports in Central America totaled $12 million, and purchases from companies in Mexico increased 86% compared to the same period in 2019.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with the graph"]
As a result of the restrictions on mobility and the ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages, which were decreed in 2020 to mitigate the outbreak of covid-19, it is estimated that the smuggling of liquor from Mexico into the Guatemalan market increased considerably.
According to the report Prohibitions, illicit alcohol and lessons to be learned from the covid-19 lockdown, prepared by the Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (Tracit), the dry law imposed for long periods boosted sales of smuggled alcoholic beverages.
From January to June 2020, regional beer imports totaled $83 million, 24% less than what was reported for the same period in 2019, with Guatemala and Panama being the markets that registered the most significant drops.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graphic"]
In the last few weeks in Central American countries, the volume of searches and conversations on the Internet associated with wine began to decrease, a trend that continued in early November.
Through a system that monitors in real time the changes in the interests and preferences of consumers in Central American countries, developed by CentralAmericaData, it is possible to project short and long term demand trends for the different products, sectors and markets that operate in the region.
From January to July 2020, Central American companies imported malt beer from Mexico for $35 million, 33% less than in the same period in 2019, a drop reported in the context of the economic crisis generated by the outbreak of covid-19.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graphic"]
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).
From January to March 2020, bottled water imports in Central America totaled $7 million, and purchases from companies in Italy increased 38% with respect to the same period in 2019.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graph"]
A bill is being considered in Costa Rica that proposes to identify each container of this type of beverage with a device, label or sticker in order to prevent smuggling, a measure that, according to business people, would not be effective.
In the last few months, the interest in wine in the digital environment has been increasing, a rise that can be explained by the behavior of consumers in all markets of the region.
Through a system that monitors in real time the changes in the interests and preferences of the consumers in the countries of Central America, developed by CentralAmericaData, it is possible to project trends of demand in the short and long term, for the different products, sectors and markets that operate in the region.
From January to March 2020, beer imports in Central America totaled $56 million, 5% less than what was reported for the same period in 2019, with Guatemala and Honduras being the markets that registered the most significant drops.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Area of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graphic"]
As of October this year, the U.S. country will begin one of the phases of implementation of the new front labeling on food and non-alcoholic beverages, under the Labeling Law NOM-051 of the Ministry of Health.
One of the arguments that support the amendments to the Standard is the situation of health and welfare of citizens in the country.
Costa Rica's Florida Ice and Farm announced that it will begin to compete in the Mexican market with the marketing of flavored alcoholic beverages of the Segram's Escapes brand in more than 6,000 sales points.
The Costa Rican company Florida Ice and Farm (FIFCO), enters with a new business model in Mexico that takes more than a year of planning and analysis, is a strategy 'light on assets' that has as its tip to develop and market in that country the brand Seagram's Escapes in the category of flavored alcoholic beverages, a product focused and customized to the consumption trends of Mexicans, said an official statement.
During the next few months, it is estimated that whisky sales in the Panamanian market will decrease by around 2%, compared to the levels reported before the crisis.
In Panama, the guild of companies in the alcoholic beverages sector are asking the authorities to put an end to the Dry Law, which has been stricter in the context of the covid-19 outbreak and the decreed home quarantine.
In order to reduce crime and avoid crowding, the authorities had prohibited the consumption, sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages until the end of the State of Emergency decreed by the spread of covid-19.
Operating Company dedicated to the manufacture of gluten-free and sugar-free products, OHNE brand. The OHNE brand has 8 product lines: square bread, sweet...