The quality and freshness of Costa Rican melons and watermelons reached the palate of Europeans but, this time, with an added value that is increasingly consolidated as a trend in international markets: organic products. This first export of organic melon and watermelon was in charge of the company “Melones de la Península”.
This Costa Rican family business, with more than 25 years of experience in the production of melon and watermelon for export to countries of the European Union (EU), the United States, Kuwait, and Russia, has quality certifications such as Global GAP, GRASP, Rainforest Alliance, TSI Smeta, essential COSTA RICA, and Tesco Nurture.
According to Suk Lin Ajú, Commercial Manager of Melons of the Peninsula, in a first stage 1,500 kilos were exported for 2 weeks -by air- between both varieties (melon – yellow honeydew, and watermelon – quetzali), as well as approximately 10 thousand kilos by sea during the same time.
Watermelons are sweet and full of water -that is why their name“This first export of organic melon and watermelon motivates us a lot and makes us proud as a company, as it goes hand in hand with our mission to promote sustainable production systems and deliver healthy products to consumers”, said Ajú.
For his part, Pedro Beirute Prada, General Manager of the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promoter (PROCOMER), added that it is very satisfactory for the institution to support companies such as Melons of the Peninsula, which carry innovation and sustainability in every detail of their production. “We invite more national companies to join these efforts, that together as a country, we take the competitiveness of our export sector to another level and continue doing business with a purpose”, said Beirute.
The certification of this first shipment of organic melon and watermelon was issued by the Kiwa BCS Limitada organization, which analyzed the plantation of 2 hectares in the Rancho Cenízaro farm, a participant in the project.
According to the Commercial Manager of Melons of the Peninsula, a part of this production was also destined for the local market, “we are interested in placing part of the volume in Costa Rica, so we are making efforts to open this market”, said Ajú.
A company with environmental commitment
Melones de la Peninsula is a company that is no stranger to the trend of doing business with a positive impact on environmental management since it is one of the winners of the I call for the Green Growth program.
Melons -also known as cantaloupes- are first-quality in Costa RicaThis program is an initiative of PROCOMER and the CRUSA Foundation that aims to promote the change in production, of Costa Rican companies, towards more sustainable and environmentally friendly ways, as well as promoting diversification and increasing the added value of the offer Exportable from Costa Rica, through the granting of seed capital.
The project proposed by Melones de la Peninsula consists of automating the irrigation of its greenhouse through controllers and intelligent valves based on weather data, achieving efficient use of water and agrochemicals.
Up to now, the company is waiting for the last disbursement of the funds obtained to complete the programming stage of the controller, which receives all the information from the sensors, analyzes the data, and controls the valves that allow the irrigation and ventilation of the greenhouse to be managed.
