9 July 2008 – Costa Rica's main dairy product manufacturer, the Dos Pinos Cooperative, plans an aggressive expansion drive in Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama, local media report.
Dos Pinos intends to take advantage of high powder milk prices, which have peaked at around $5,000 per tonne mid-2007, up from $1,998 per tonne in January 2003. Although prices have fallen from their peak level, they have remained above the $4,500 mark.
Dos Pinos has already invested $12.5 million in Guatemala, where it currently sells 80,000 litres of Costa Rican milk a day. The group now plans to strike deals with local producers.
The cooperative recently acquired a 51% stake in a dairy plant owned by Cooprolac in Panama and aims to capture a 25% share of that country’s market by 2013. Dos Pinos’s investments in Panama are currently worth an estimated $2.5 million.
Finally, the Costa Rican company has earmarked between $5 and $6 million for a new factory in Nicaragua.
If Dos Pinos's investment drive goes as planned, the cooperative should achieve the largest distribution network in Central America, with over 26,000 businesses.
