In early March, the Costa Rican Congress approved a Bill of Law to legalize medical cannabis and hemp in the country. This came as great news for business owners and industrial producers, who will now be able to conduct their commercial operations in Costa Rica.
A group of Costa Rican and Paraguayan entrepreneurs joined forces to begin positioning Costa Rica as a benchmark for this industry in the region. They invested more than $300,000 to capitalize on the legalization of hemp and medical cannabis in the nation.
More than 120 new CBD products to be introduced in national stores. There are many products that can be obtained from CBD, which is a medical element of the plant. A lot of goods will be imported from Paraguay and be placed in the next few weeks in various stores. This is likely to be the start of a new market, that is expected to grow tremendously in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica Hemp Time owners, the company in charge of importing said products, indicated that the derivatives already have sanitary registration and can only be purchased by adults. They also mentioned the products will be available in pharmacies, supermarkets and other authorized stalls.
The corporation offers a great range of products: gummies, chocolates, popsicles, tea infusions, butters, oils, non-bark protein and raw material to develop presentations in beer and coffee. These are mainly made from CBD (cannabidiol).
As part of their commercial strategy, the industrialists said that they have established alliances with large Costa Rican companies to generate more products or include CBD extracts in foodstuffs that are already in the national market.
They also emphasized that, as they are products brought from Paraguay, where they are tax exempt, they will be sold at prices 50% lower than those in the Costa Rican market, where most of them are imported from the United States or even illegally transported.
Involving the governmental sector has also been very important for the vendors, especially after doing business in Paraguay, where they generated the necessary conditions to successfully market these products. This is why they have held conversations with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) to form a public-private commission to help develop this industry in the country.
Likewise, they intend to have medical experts train Costa Rican doctors who wish to specialize in the field, and then include them in a telemedicine booth project. This way, the country can become a hub, where people can call to discuss their health problems with professional physicians and get their prescriptions.
Another idea is to focus on family agriculture, which seeks that small Costa Rican producers are able to enter this market, with the assurance that they will not have losses and will be accompanied throughout the process to generate a good production of raw material.
In the end, the goal is to place Costa Rica as a Latin American reference in the hemp and medical cannabis market, while providing job opportunities for thousands of people, as well as improving the current economic situation for the country and providing high quality goods that be exported.
