Industry sources revealed today that, with over $791 million dollars of income from the sale of fresh pineapples in 2012, Costa Rica is the largest exporter of this fruit in the world.
Abel Chaves, president of the National Chamber of Pineapple Producers and Exporters pointed out that, "the industry's growth had started from 2000, when they had began replacing champaka and smooth cayenne type plantations for the golden variety".
According to Costa Rica's Foreign Trade Corporation (Procomer), exports have increased by 650 percent since 2000, when they amounted to $121 million dollars.
Last year United States was the main recipient of Costa Rican pineapple with 47 percent, followed by the Netherlands, with 15 percent; United Kingdom, 11 percent; and Belgium, eight percent.
Chaves added that with the replacement of the pineapple variety, per capita consumption at the national and international levels increased, which led producers with crops that were unprofitable to begin replacing them.
Procomer statistics reveal that the country exported pineapple to 16 nations in the year 2000, a number that had increased to 32 different destinations by the year 2006 and to 42 countries in 2012.
Source: Prensa Libre