Industria 4.0 Panamá, a relatively young company founded just three years ago, started its operations with the export of pineapples of the MD2 variety, also known as golden pineapple. According to owners Kimberly Rudas and Eduardo Bohorquez, this variety is exported both by air and by sea, depending on market needs and customer preferences. "We work with pineapples both with crown and crownless, ripe or green, depending on the degree of ripeness required by the market," says Rudas, highlighting their business model's flexibility and capacity to adapt to meet international demands.
The company, located in the area of La Chorrera, Corregimiento de Iturralde, the main pineapple-producing area in Panama, has adopted an inclusive business model under which small and medium-sized local producers are integrated. "We buy the production from small growers, to whom we also provide technical advice to guarantee the quality of the product we export," says Rudas.
According to Rudas, climate change has had a moderate impact on Panama's pineapple productions. Although some effects have been observed, mainly on pineapple sizes and calibres, the relatively small scale of producers in Panama has allowed for greater control over such consequences. Rudas says that producers have implemented irrigation systems and adjusted their planting schedules to mitigate the negative effects of the weather. They are thus managing to keep the production volumes stable without significant changes.
Regarding consumer trends, Rudas has noticed a growing interest in pineapples with little colour in maritime markets and a preference for pineapples with a bright and intense colour in air freight markets, especially for ready-to-eat products. Also, the air freight market, while smaller in terms of volume, is expanding due to the demand for fresh and high quality products, delivered weekly to ensure a constant supply at international supermarkets.
As for pineapple export prices, Rudas says that prices are variable and depend largely on the cost of sea freight. In the international market, the FOB price of a box of pineapples ranges between 8 and 8.75 USD, as many clients prefer to arrange the maritime transport themselves directly. Meanwhile, the CIF price, which includes shipping, amounts to around USD 13 per box; a figure that already includes all logistical costs up to the port of destination.
Ginger
Ginger, another flaship product for the company, has found a competitive niche in Europe, especially in Spain. Produced in the province of Darién, an area of forested and humid soils, Panamanian ginger stands out for its quality, and according to Ramos, "it could be marketed as organic, given the way it is cultivated in this region."
However, exporting ginger entails logistical challenges, as the washing and drying process is considerably more complex and labour-intensive than that of pineapples. In spite of this, Ramos says that they are working to give a boost to this product, especially the one marketed by air, given the high demand for fresh ginger in European markets.
Panama can produce ginger from February to June, during the summer season. This is a particularly advantageous period, because other major producers, such as Peru and Brazil, have not yet started their harvests, which allows Panama to offer fresh ginger to the international market without facing much competition.
Looking to the future, Industria 4.0 Panamá aims to expand both its production capacity and its reach in international markets. The company currently exports between 4 and 6 containers of pineapples per week, but hopes to increase this to 8 containers in the short term.
Some of its main export markets are Spain, which consumes most of their production, and other European countries, such as Germany and Portugal. Ramos says that the US market has been lagging behind, so the company is working on reactivating pineapple exports to the U.S., and aims to achieve this by 2025. They are also in the process of obtaining Good Agricultural Practices certifications (GlobalG.A.P.) and social certifications (GRASP) to gain access to a wider and more demanding market.
Rudas also mentions their participation in international fairs, such as Fruit Attraction 2024 in Madrid, with the sponsorship of ProPanama (Hall 4, stand 4E17), where they seek to promote not only pineapple and ginger, but also other emerging products, such as pumpkin.
For more information:
Industria 4.0 Panamá S.A.
La Chorrera, Corregimiento de Iturralde
Panama
Kimberly Rudas
Tel.: +507 6334-8964
[email protected]
www.industriapty.com