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Cocoa, dried and processed fruit, vegetables and ethnic or nostalgic foods are some of the products with potential in the United States, once the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) comes into effect this May 15.
This is how it was presented at a seminar organized by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism, and PROCOLOMBIA, which took place in Bogota with the participation of 107 entrepreneurs from the agro-industrial sector.
The event, which had the support of the Chambers of Commerce, was also seen by 187 other entrepreneurs through a live transmission online in nine cities: Bucaramanga, Cucuta, Barranquilla, Pereira, Cali, Tunja, Neiva, Villavicencio and Santa Marta.
" We already have some clients in the United States, but obviously with this FTA we expect to send many more contenders and gain more buyers" , said Hugo Fernando Quiroga, one of the attendees and general manager of Terrafertil, a company specialized in dehydrated fruit. " It is a gigantic market. We have been successfully promoting cape gooseberry, so we have high expectations" , he added.
Henry Monroy, Agritec de Colombia SA, assured that " With this FTA, Colombia must capitalize the potential it has. Although it is quite a large market, we have a wide variety of supply, a country with unique biodiversity and the best location on the map. We can go through the Pacific or the Atlantic, and not just the United States but also Europe, Asia and all of Latin America" .
His company, which exports certified fresh organic fruit such as cape gooseberry, granadilla, guanabana and tree tomatoes, began with an investigation process in 2008 for producing and exporting organic fruit. " It is an interesting market niche in which we know we have a grand opportunity" , he stated.
Leonardo Brisma from Huertos Verdes has also found opportunities with organic products. " We offer vegetables such as lettuce and tomatoes, and passion fruit and blackberry fruit pulp. We still do not export, but we want the United States to be our main destination because we have had some contact regarding gourmet lettuce" .
A market with opportunities
During the seminar, it was explained that Colombia will be one of the 20 countries that have an FTA with the United States and, given the size of the market, is full of opportunities.
There are close to 313 million inhabitants that have high purchasing power and each state of the United States has a GDP that is comparable to that of other countries. Texas' GDP, for example, is similar to Canada' s, Florida' s is similar to South Korea' s, and California' s is similar to France' s.
The seminar also demonstrated some of the technical aspects of the FTA such as access conditions and phytosanitary matters, as well as key factors when it comes to negotiating with U.S. entrepreneurs.
On the latter, there was special mention of the importance of initiating exports with an elaborate plan and not with a trial and error strategy also, agreements must be fulfilled and the product must not be delivered after the negotiated period.
" I am now clearer on the amount of opportunities for growth in that country" , assured Luz Marina Rojas, manager of Dipsa Food, a company that exports fruit-based products to Canada such as cereal bars, nuts and dried fruit.
" I see the FTA more as a great opportunity for making new business" , added Luis Eduardo Supelano, from Procesadora de Alimentos El Gordo. " We have traditional products such as suckling pig and canned tamale, for which we are sure there is a market in the Latino community that lives in the United States" .
This was the first of several sectoral seminars (agro-industry, clothing, services and manufacturing) that PROCOLOMBIA has scheduled for 2012, as part of its action plan for capitalizing on the FTA.
The second, also for the agro-industrial sector, will take place today at the Hotel San Fernando Plaza in Medellin starting at 8:30 a.m.
