As half of Costa Rica's fresh pineapple exports enters the U.S. market, with the other half going to the European market and other destinations in the world, the golden pineapple remains a favourite of consumers. That is according to Luis Vásquez, from Upala Agrícola in Costa Rica.
The Upala Agrícola fields in Costa Rica.
“At Upala Agrícola, we understand that fresh pineapple is a product for which Costa Rica stands out as a world leader in exports and that it constitutes a vital sector of the Costa Rican economy. For these reasons, our fresh pineapple exports are the result of applying prominent levels of excellence, environmental harmony, and corporate social responsibility.”
Upala Agrícola is an agro-industrial company located in the northern part of the country, in the canton of Upala, Alajuela. Their crops covers over 3,800 hectares that’s dedicated to the production and export of fresh pineapple.
“Producing and exporting fresh pineapple to the most important and demanding international markets demonstrates our commitment to excellence in each of our daily tasks. For this reason, the development of our activity is conducted considering the protection of the environment, support for neighbouring communities and attention to the highest standards of quality and safety, principles that are part of the socio-environmental and quality policies of the company.”
“Our product is fresh pineapple in its variety MD2 Gold, known as Golden Pineapple, which is characterized by its sweetness, aroma, juiciness, and a creamy yellow colour inside. These characteristics make MD2 Gold the favourite pineapple of consumers in international markets. We produce pineapples in sizes ranging from five to ten, classified according to their weight. We pack the pineapples in cardboard boxes in presentations with crowns or crownless,” explains Vásquez.
Upala Agrícola performs the packaging process in its own two packing plants, equipped with automatic sizers with conveyor belts calibrated by weight, to classify the fruit. They have controlled temperature in the whole packing plant area, precooling tunnels, cold storage warehouses with controlled temperature to preserve the fruit quality, loading dock stations for containers with controlled temperature. We preserve the pineapples in all these areas under controlled conditions until it is time to dispatch the loads to their destinations.
“Our environmentally friendly operation is possible thanks to the valuable participation of a work team composed of more than 1.000 women and men who are our most important resource. With great commitment and mystique of teamwork, they efficiently perform their tasks while making our company the largest employer in the region,” states Vásquez.
Their pineapples are available to consumers in supermarket chains both in its natural presentation and as fresh cut chunks that helps with easier consumption. “Over the years, as we grew in this activity, our commercial portfolio has also done so and our product reaches the United States and Canada, as well as countries in the European Union such as Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, France, Germany, Portugal, and Belgium, among others. In addition, we reach other destinations such as Israel, Korea, Turkey, and United Kingdom. We maintain our interest in new markets, to take our product to other destinations and open new possibilities that allow us to continue growing and producing the best pineapples in Costa Rica,” concludes Vásquez.
For more information:
Luis Vasquez
Upala Agrícola
Email: [email protected]