Consumers from Switzerland, Saudi Arabia and Libya taste Guatemalan food and beverage products
In the last two years, the AGEXPORT Food and Beverage Commission has worked on business strengthening, opening markets, and taking advantage of trends, which has allowed them to enter markets such as Turkey, Belarus, Kenya, Taiwan and Saudi Arabia, among others, closing 2021 with an export total of US$2,300 million.
All this has been through the implementation of the “Exporting Food and Beverages from Guatemala to the World” strategic plan, which has as its goal that the sector has an export closure in 2022 with a growth of more than 30%, compared to 2021.
There are 5 subsectors: processed foods, confectionery, preserves, beverages and animal feed, which make up the AGEXPORT Food and Beverage Commission, and those that are currently exporting products with high added value such as hot sauces for snacks distributed in American Football League of the United States -NFL- stadiums, freeze-dried fruit, sports supplements, gluten-free flour for cakes and pancakes, as well as drinks for mixology.
“We are focused on strengthening nearby markets and creating conditions for Guatemalan products to enter the world. By 2022, we hope to improve these numbers, based on the “Exporting Food from Guatemala to the World” strategy, directing efforts towards new business opportunities and business development and trade promotion on a regional level. Buyers from the US, Mexico, and Central America are turning to Guatemala as an excellent supplier of high-quality food and beverages at more competitive prices, and we must take advantage of this,” said Orlando Solórzano, president of the AGEXPORT Food and Drinks Commission.
In July 2022, the Commission launched the “Opportunities for Guatemalan Food in Central America” market study: which will allow entrepreneurs and SMEs to export to the region.
“Our main objective in the Commission is to ensure that our partners do not export just once, but that their exports are sustained, and they export more and more. That is why we designed a platform called the “Food and Beverage Export Tool-kit” in which our partners will find valuable information such as market studies, checklists of food export requirements for different markets, a tool for market intelligence called Food Intelligence, among other vital inputs to continue with the process of internationalization”, Solórzano added.
