Costa Rica pineapple exports to the U.S. and domestic Florida grapefruit shipments are facing their own problems, but for different reasons.
Adverse weather conditions and unfavorable exchange rates contributed to the decline in Costa Rican pineapple exports the first half of 2015 compared with the previous year. The drop was 15 percent less in volumes of the tropical fruit shipped between January and June, amounting to 933,800 tons.
In June there was severe fl0ooding in Costa Rica and estimated pineapple losses could reach 20 million boxes, with nearly 45,000 acres of fields damaged. Exchange rates have also hit exports over the past year, with the Costa Rican colón rising against the euro and, to a lesser extent, against the US dollar since August 2014.
The U.S. is easily the biggest export market for Costa Rica. However, those exports to American plunged by 19 percent over the period, totalling 473,000 tons.
Florida Grapefruit Shipments
Florida had a hot and relatively wet summer resulting in poorer quality grapefruit as the minimum maturity standards for brix and acid levels were lacking early in the season. This delayed harvest by about two to three weeks.
The Florida grapefruit harvest recently started and shipments are expected to remain strong through the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season. After the holidays, demand declines. In general, US grapefruit consumption is going down. Older people tend to like grapefruit, but because of changing demographics, the industry is losing the older customer base. Younger people do not prefer the taste of this citrus variety. Consumption is also suffering from bad publicity during the past five years as the fruit is believed to interact with certain medications.
Florida grapefruit shipments – grossing about $2100 to Chicago.