Costa Rican pineapple

  • Published on 31/10/2013 - Published by LOEILLET Denis
  • FruiTrop n°215 , Page From 45 to 47
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2 million tonnes exported per year! This iconic mark is within Costa Rica’s grasp. If we extrapolate from the current trend, it will be reached by December 2013. It has been years since we exhausted the list of superlatives to describe the growth of the Costa Rican pineapple sector. By way of comparison, with these 2 million tonnes, the pineapple would reach the level of the banana export sector (2.1 million tonnes in 2012), in terms of both volume and value: approximately 800 million USD per year for both these sectors.

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Location

The plantations, which cover approximately 42 000 ha as opposed to 11 000 ha in the early 2000s, are primarily concentrated in three big production zones, divided between 16 regions:

  • · Northern zone: 21 575 ha, i.e. 51 % of the total;
  • · Atlantic zone: 11 675 ha, i.e. 28 % of the total;
  • · Pacific zone: 8 750 ha, i.e. 21 % of the total.

The Atlantic zone is the historical area of the crop’s development, situated in the south of Puntarenas province. This was where Del Monte developed cultivation of the MD-2 on its vast industrial plantation Pindeco, situated near the city of Buenos Aires. The pineapple sector employs more than 25 000 people directly, and nearly 100 000 people in total.

map
map

Production

The emergence of the Costa Rican pineapple industry is relatively recent, and closely linked to the name Del Monte. The first stage of its development was the establishment in 1978 of Pindeco, a cutting-edge industrial plantation dedicated to exporting the Champaka variety. Production reached 450 000 t by the end of the 1980s, and then levelled off since this variety, whose skin remains green when mature, did not manage to penetrate some major markets. The introduction on this same plantation of the MD-2 or Sweet pineapple, with its low acidity and suitability for sea freight, allied with the power of a multinational in terms of production and marketing structure, marked the start of an exemplary success story which has radically changed the world market. Production began to grow rapidly from 1996, to meet the brilliant commercial success encountered both in the United States and in Europe, approaching one million tonnes in the early 2000s. The official entry of this variety into the public domain in 2003 caused a boom in cultivated surface areas and exporters, both in Costa Rica (1 220 producers in 2008) and other countries in Latin America, Africa or Asia. There are now some 1 300 producers. Canapep consists of approximately 35 big producers, and one hundred medium-sized producers, with the rest comprising small producers. Of the total producers, 65 % are independent of the export facilities and 35 % are owned by exporters. The independent producers are organised in the form of cooperatives and associations.

PINEAPPLE COSTA RICA EXPORTS
PINEAPPLE COSTA RICA EXPORTS

Exports

Export volumes, which had grown gradually to 550 000 t in 2003, exploded to reach 1.4 million tonnes in 2008 and 1.9 million tonnes in 2012. Besides the slight drop in 2009, exports have done nothing but rise, beating an absolute record every year. At this rate, the two million-tonne mark will definitely be reached by the end of 2013.

The export unit value was 420 USD/tonne in 2012, the same figure as in 2011. The counterpart in local currency (colon) fell between 2009 and 2012, down from 240 000 to 210 000 colons, whereas over the same period the customs value went from 402 to 422 USD/tonne. The end result: a 5 % increase in USD and an 11 % drop in colon!

Over the very long term, the division between flows to the United States and to Europe is stable. The United States absorbed 51 % of volumes (over the past twelve years), 48 % went to the EU and 1 % to the rest of the world. We should note that this latter category, which includes Russia, Canada and Turkey, has been on a significant upward trend over the past few years. Over the twelve months from September 2012 to August 2013, it absorbed 4 % of Costa Rican exports. There are 170 pineapple exporters and 72 big packing facilities.

PINEAPPLE COSTA RICA FAIRTRADE PRICES
PINEAPPLE COSTA RICA FAIRTRADE PRICES

 

Logistics

The fruits are mostly (92 % in 2012) routed by land to the port of Limon (Caribbean coast), from where they are exported by special ships or containers to two main markets, the United States and the European Union (approximately 10 to 14 days to the EU for dedicated logistics). The port of Caldera (in the west on the Pacific coast) saw 8 % of the total exports pass through it in 2012. Very modest quantities pass via the ports of Paso Canoas (border between Costa Rica and Panama in the south-east of the country) and Peñas Blancas (border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua in the north-west of the country), as well as via Santamaria (airport of the capital San José).

PINEAPPLE COSTA RICA ANNUAL EXPORTS
PINEAPPLE COSTA RICA ANNUAL EXPORTS

 

Outlets

The vast majority of exports comprises fresh pineapples (99.9 %). Pineapple in tinned, dried or another form amounted to barely 1 000 tonnes in 2012, i.e. 0.1 % of the total.

pineapple CR3
pineapple CR3

 

pineapple CR4
pineapple CR4

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    Carte

  • ananas CR prix

    ananas CR prix
    ananas CR prix

  • ananas CR export annuel

    ananas CR export annuel
    ananas CR export annuel

  • ananas CR 2

    ananas CR 2
    ananas CR 2

  • ananas CR 3

    ananas CR 3
    ananas CR 3

  • ananas costa rica exportations

    ananas costa rica exportations
    ananas costa rica exportations

  • map

    map
    map

  • PINEAPPLE COSTA RICA EXPORTS

    PINEAPPLE COSTA RICA EXPORTS
    PINEAPPLE COSTA RICA EXPORTS

  • PINEAPPLE COSTA RICA FAIRTRADE PRICES

    PINEAPPLE COSTA RICA FAIRTRADE PRICES
    PINEAPPLE COSTA RICA FAIRTRADE PRICES

  • PINEAPPLE COSTA RICA ANNUAL EXPORTS

    PINEAPPLE COSTA RICA ANNUAL EXPORTS
    PINEAPPLE COSTA RICA ANNUAL EXPORTS

  • pineapple CR3

    pineapple CR3
    pineapple CR3

  • pineapple CR4

    pineapple CR4
    pineapple CR4

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