San José – With the objective of promoting value-added Costa Rican food, identifying new market niches for gourmet products, and reinforcing the essential COSTA RICA brand, ten Costa Rican companies promoted their goods at North America’s foremost specialty food fair – The Fancy Food Show 2017.
Crucial to Costa Rica’s participation at the Fancy Food Show was the promotion of the country’s essential COSTA RICA brand. More than just a marketing campaign, the brand requires a company to complete a licensing process to be able to use it. “Costa Rican exporters carrying the country brand on their products have proven they have the five brand values of essential COSTA RICA,” explained Maykool López, New York Director for PROCOMER (Costa Rica’s trade promotion entity). “These are: Excellence, Sustainability, Innovation, Social Progress and Costa Rican origin. Carrying the country brand makes the companies more competitive because these values are highly appreciated by international buyers.”
At the Fancy Food Show, essential COSTA RICA and its licensed companies were promoted through a U.S. media workshop covering export issues and outlining the reasons buying products licensed under the country brand is a differentiating aspect for an international food buyer. "This worship allowed us to communicate how Costa Rica and the companies carrying the label of the brand follow the most innovative trends in sustainability, as well as the benefits an international buyer obtains when buying from suppliers licensed with the country brand,” said Daniel Valverde, Country Brand Director at PROCOMER.
The Costa Rican exporter delegation, accompanied by PROCOMER representatives presented the following product offering:
- Costa Rica Coffee Spiri: a specialty roast coffee, where three companies participate.
- Pro Group: banana and yucca chips; seeds; other items.
- Qué Salsa: fruit based sauces.
- Agroindustrial Montaña Azul: frozen and canned yucca; canned vegetables and fruits.
- Kitty Products: snacks including popcorn and cassava chips.
- JINCA Foods: a cereal based on superfoods; gluten free cookies.
- Roma Prince: pasta and Italian specialties.
- Nutrisnacks: healthy snacks.
- Alpigo: canned and vacuum-packed palm hearts; a new novel product: palm heart noodles.
- Gourmet Fields: organic and conventional chocolate.
"The magnitude of the event makes it strategic for the country's food industry due to the attendance of specialized buyers who seek value-added and innovative products, aspects Costa Rica continues to develop and our companies offer to buyers," said Álvaro Piedra, Director of Exports for PROCOMER.
Gilberth Jiménez, of JINCA Foods, a first time participant in the show, said the Fancy Food Show is a great opportunity to expose his company’s products to major distributors in the United States, create new contacts and learn international trends.
Prior to the fair, PROCOMER hosted a business session with key buyers for Costa Rican entrepreneurs, such as La Centroamericana, Bedesse Imports, Lap Imports, Across Foods, La Fe and Goya Foods. Other well-known buyers like Whole Foods, Amazon, independent supermarket chains such as Supremo Foods and Food Bazar, and gourmet and natural products distributors like Edwards Imports, Atalanta, Nassau Candy, etc. attend the fair. Each year, the Fancy Food Show hosts over 2,500 entrepreneurs from around the world, who showcase more than 180,000 products to 25,000 food buyers.
Rina Jiménez, from Qué Salsa, added that it was a very successful opportunity to present her new and innovative product. "We have been able to establish new contacts with potential distributors,” she said. “We have made ourselves known to customers – a great experience for us."
From January to May 2017, Costa Rica's food industry ranked third in exports by sector, with a 16% share and a 6% growth over the same period in 2016. The total exported by this sector in the first five months of the year was $702 million, with sugar (51%) and canned fruits (24%) being the most important.
For more information contact: Maykool Lopez; Tel: 212-967-0051; Email: Newyork@procomer.com
Source: PROCOMER