The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic (MIREX), Roberto Álvarez, confirmed that a shipment of avocados, pitahayas and Dominican pineapples were exported to the United Arab Emirates for commercialization, the first time that the first two products mentioned above have arrived in that country.
According to Mercados magazine, the Dominican company YSM Capital S.R.L and the Emirati company Blue Bay Trade, Piñas Bonita fruits, avocados from Ocoa Avocados, and pitahayas from Tropihaya, are available for sale on the shelves of the multinational conglomerate Hipermercados LuLu, one of the largest retail chains in Asia and the largest in the Middle East.
According to MIREX, the Dominican Republic exported pineapples to this destination for the first time in two consecutive years, 2020 and 2021, while in avocados and pitahayas, the country had not registered an export of these products to the UAE, until now.
“Thanks to its different production areas, altitudes and varieties, our country has avocado available all year round, thus being the second largest producer of this fruit internationally, ranking only behind Mexico,” the entity detailed.
According to pre-pandemic data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in 2019 Dominican production reached a total of 661,626 tons, representing 9% of world production and its export reached a sum in excess of USD 60 million.
Dominican pineapple is exported to markets such as the United States and Europe, especially Spain, Italy, France and the Netherlands, and the Caribbean, but the main export of this item is to Israel, with an amount close to USD 3.6 million per year.
Currently, the Asian pitahaya is highly competitive, in high demand in international markets and according to the authorities of the Dominican Republic, the planting of this fruit has been diversified and distributed throughout the different provinces. There are around 600 tareas planted, which could generate an annual production of approximately USD 19.8 million.
Since 2013, MIREX detailed, Dominican exports to the UAE have increased from USD 2.311 million in 2013 to around USD 12.5 billion in 2020. In terms of products, the main products account for 80.42% of the total, with coffee and raw tobacco standing out.
