CR Ganaflor Farm pineapples field mountain

Lower demand from key export markets like the US and the Netherlands have seen Costa Rica's pineapple exports for the first five months of 2015 slip by 12 per cent, when compared with the same period of 2014.

Online publication República quoted the country's National Association of Pineapple Producers and Exports as saying that, from January to April, purchases in the US dropped by at least 10 per cent, while Dutch demand fell to US$50m, down from US$58m.

Costa Rica is the largest exporter to the US, despite seeing a drop in its market share from 89 per cent to 83 per cent through 2014/15.