Costa Rica promotes diversification and high-quality food at the PLMA trade show in Europe

In addition to being recognized as a tourist destination and for its commitment to sustainability and democracy, Costa Rica also enjoys an international position for the quality and diversity of its export products. It is precisely these characteristics that this Central American country promoted with the help of the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promoter (PROCOMER) at the PLMA trade show in Europe — organized by the Private Label Manufactures Association — held on May 23 and 24 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

The Costa Rican delegation was comprised of the companies Tertulia Brugge, Grupo VISA, Beneficio Las Peñas, and Todo Natural with the support of PROCOMER, rated the Best Foreign Trade Promotion Agency in the World from 2014 to the present by the International Trade Center (ITC).

At the trade show, Costa Rica showcased the high value-added, private-label food segment in Europe, which included products such as roasted green coffee, cocoa powder, pineapple, and other frozen and dried fruits.

“The private label segment is opening up many opportunities for Costa Rica because we have a solid, innovative, and diversified food industry that adapts to global trends and seeks to satisfy consumer needs. For this reason, this year, our participation in PLMA was focused on promoting our products with high added value and telling the world that, in Costa Rica, they can find a reliable business partner that meets their needs,” said Mario Sáenz, Exports Development Principal Director at PROCOMER.

Over the course of the trade show, the companies and PROCOMER had a stand of the country brand Esencial Costa Rica, where visitors had the opportunity to set up business meetings, exhibit and taste their products, and a counter showcasing their renowned “golden grain”: Costa Rican coffee.

Erika Araya, representative of Beneficio Las Peñas – producers, intermediaries, and exporters of coffee – added that PLMA was attended by those interested in the HoReCa market (hotels, restaurants, and cafés). “Being able to produce, roast, and package coffee for hotels, restaurants, and cafés under the brand of these companies is a fairly large market, and we cannot pass it up. In Europe, our expectations are to have access to boutique hotels, shops, cafés, and businesses that seek to exploit their own brand, and we support them by offering a high-quality product,” she said.

Finally, Benjamín Piza, manager of Todo Natural, mentioned that they were interested in expanding their customer base in Europe and increasing the volume of dried pineapple exports. “That’s why this trade show is so important, considering the private label segment that is becoming a very strong trend globally as well as for us within our pipeline. What do we expect from our participation in the trade show? We would like to significantly increase our leads and the number of potential customers we work with every day. Private label allows us to be much closer to the end consumer.”

By the first quarter of 2023, the food industry was positioned as the third largest exporting sector of goods in Costa Rica with 13% of total exports. In this period, exports from this industry reached $577 million.