Costa Rican food producers look for new buyers at international fairs

Costa Rican food producers are promoting their goods at two international fairs this week in hopes of finding new markets and buyers.

Ten Costa Rican agricultural companies exhibited their products over the weekend to 20,000 buyers from 60 countries at the 2014 Produce Marketing Association (PMA) Fresh Summit, in Anaheim, California, according to Costa Rica’s Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER).

The PMA fair is the biggest exhibit of agricultural products in the U.S. and promotes networking between suppliers and buyers across the globe, PROCOMER Regional Exports Director Javier Castillo said.

PROCOMER said each Costa Rican company would have the opportunity to link up with approximately 30 international buyers.

Ten other food companies this week are offering products at the Global Food Marketplace in Paris, an event that brings together 6,300 exhibitors from 105 countries and is expected to draw 150,000 visitors through Thursday.

In preparation for both fairs, PROCOMER held workshops for local companies on negotiation techniques and price structuring.

The agency also will help prepare another group of food producers for New York Produce 2014, a December fair that focuses on the fresh produce industry.

Costa Rica’s agricultural sector last year exported $2.4 billion, mostly to the U.S. – the main destination for Tico produce. Just under half of all agricultural exports go to the U.S., according  to PROCOMER. Those include bananas, pineapples, coffee, ornamental plants, yucca and melon, among others.