Citrus in Costa Rica

byCarlos E. Odio

Costa RicaAREA: 51,000 km2 (19,650 sq. miles)POPULATION (2006): 4,300,000GDP (2006): US$ 21.5 BILLIONEXPORTS (LAST 12 MONTHS):US$ 9.68 BILLION *IMPORTS (LAST 12 MONTHS):US$ 14.934 BILLIONTOURISM (2007): US$ 1.9 BILLIONOFFICIAL LANGUAGE: SPANISHLITERACY RATE: 96.0%LIFE EXPECTANCY: 77.3 YEARS* Does not include service exports.BRIEF OVERVIEW:

Very stable economy that depends on tourism, agriculture, and electronics exports. Fuel cost is now a major problem.Superb geographical location with ports on both oceans.The army was abolished in 1949.Over 10% of the territory is dedicated to national parks.Immigrants represent a large percentage of the population.Costa Rica has the richest poor people and the poorest rich people in all Latin America.

August 2008

TicoFrut Growing Area

Competitive cost Juice qualityGrowth potencial

Competitive Cost

Except for herbicides applied to the grass that grows between the rows of trees, no pesticides are used in TICOFRUT’s groves. This, combined with good productivity results in a production cost that is competitive in the world arena. Additionally, TICOFRUT’s products have duty free access to the United States and European Union markets.

Juice Quality

The virtual absence of pesticides makes the juice healthier. This combined with a 37/38 flavor score, an average 38 color and average 17/18 ratio, make TICOFRUT’s juice very desirable for the U.S. market.

Growth Potential

There is enough land suitable for citrus near TICOFRUT and enough market support to allow TICOFRUT to make Costa Rica, in a few years, the third largest processor of oranges in the world, after Brazil and the United States.

Negative Features

Shallow soilsErratic rainfall

Shallow Soils

Soil depth varies between 12” and 24”.To overcome this obstacle we are now planting in terraced land and have had excellent results.

Erratic Rainfall

In the last few years we have had very erratic rainfall. Since that is the trigger for blooming in the tropics, this results in highly oscillating crop sizes.To overcome this we need irrigation.

TicoFrut Vertical IntegrationNursery750,000 trees/yearGroves under managementOver 25,000 net acresProcessing plant135,000 boxes of oranges/day300 MT of pineapple/dayBulk transportion systemTerminal in Costa Rica’s Caribbean ShipTerminal in Tampa

NURSERYRootstocksWe started in the early 1990s with all carrizo.As soon as swingle became available, in the late 1990s, it became our preferred rootstock.Now we are using flying dragon because it shouldproduce more in the 3rd and 4th years and because itis much easier and therefore cheaper to pick.We have always produced smaller amounts of otherrootstocks.VarietiesMostly valenciaSome pineappleSmall amounts of others

GROVES

Existing 25,000 + acresValencia 72%Pineapple 26%Others 2%Yearly increase: 2,000 + acresIrrigation starting 2009: 2,500 acres per year

PROCESSING PLANT135,000 boxes of oranges/dayProduce 17 different productsFMC extractorsTurbo filters instead of finishers

300 MT of pineapple/dayProduce 5 different products

8 T.A.S.T.E. evaporators totalling 385,000 lbs/hr

Bulk Transportation System

Terminal in Costa Rica’s CaribbeanShipTerminal in Tampa