Exports of pineapples from Costa Rica rose by 5 per cent in value terms during the first six months of 2012, continuing the impressive form shown by the tropical fruit in recent years.
Sendings increased to some US$413.5m, up from US$393.9m, according to figures released by the Costa Rican Export Promotion Bureau (Procomer).
During the last 20 years, Procomer said Costa Rica’s participation on the global pineapple market has grown significantly.
In 1990, Costa Rican pineapples represented 6.8 per cent of the entire international pineapple trade – a figure which ballooned to an impressive 63.4 per cent in 2010.
In 2011, Costa Rica became the largest pineapple exporter in the world on the back of a doubling in planted area to 45,000ha and an 8 per cent growth in exports sales to US$743m, according to producer organisation Canapep.
Figures from Costa Rica’s Ministry of Foreign Trade (Comex) also reveal the Central American nation accounts for around 84 per cent of all the pineapple consumed in the US.
Comex is currently negotiating the parameters for phytosanitary certificates to allow Costa Rica to export pineapples and melons to China after the Costa Rica-China free trade agreement came into force in August 2011.
After bananas, pineapples are now the second most important agricultural crop in Costa Rica.
