Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Geoffrey de Sibert - The Case for Specialty Crops in Belize

The Case for Specialty Crops in Belize

By Geoffrey de Sibert
Specialty Crops provide a potentially significant opportunity in Belize. There is a fairly broad repertoire of vegetables grown in Belize, although only on a scale sufficient to provide a modest amount of supply for domestic demand. Currently, only permanent fruit crops such as citrus, bananas, papayas and mangoes are grown on an export scale. Yet Belize possesses the soil conditions, climate conditions and growing seasons that indicate that it should be able to supply a broad selection of vegetables to the North American market during the key December to March window when domestic US production is significantly curtailed due to weather. Belize also possesses the right conditions to grow certain other non-agronomic crops ranging from peanuts and chia to sea-island cotton.

The Specialty Crops opportunity consists of an initial effort to evaluate a series of vegetables (with multiple varieties for each species) on a scale large enough to determine whether they can meet required quality and production cost benchmarks to be suitable candidates for the export market. Typically, the value per acre of Specialty Crops can be up to five to ten times higher than the value of agronomic crops, although production costs are correspondingly higher as is the risk of loss. And while relative farming margins might be comparable to the current (historically very high) margins seen in agronomic farming, absolute farming margins per acre of land are commensurately higher.

Storage & Transport

There is no infrastructure for Specialty Crops operations in Belize today. Accordingly, greenfield construction of cooling, packing and storage facilities would be needed. The key transport methods for Specialty Crops exports, namely refrigerated trucks and containers, are currently available in Belize at reasonable costs. High value added crops that would require refrigerated air transport would benefit from the extensive air services to Houston, Dallas, Miami, Atlanta, Charlotte and Newark. Moreover, given the limited air cargo currently being shipped from Belize, I believe that favorable, long-term contracts could be secured.

Marketing & Sales

The primary market for Specialty Crops produced in Belize is the export market, with limited potential demand from Belize’s hospitality industry, the latter currently supplied for the most part from imports. Belize’s indigenous consumption of vegetables suited for the export market is limited for both cultural and economic reasons (e.g. Belizeans have more of a traditional “rice and beans” diet). The major export markets for specialty crops would be the US and Caribbean Community (CARICOM). There is no established Specialty Crops brokerage or distribution network within Belize, either for the domestic or the export market.

US demand would be seasonal, with most activity expected to focus on the December to March delivery window when US production is limited. CARICOM demand is expected to be year round, driven in part by the extensive hospitality industry present in many CARICOM countries, as well as by certain more affluent socio-economic segments in the larger and more prosperous CARICOM countries. Exports from Belize would benefit from the Common External Tariff (CET) which is currently fixed at 40% for agricultural products, and the requirement for CARICOM importers to post their requirements with the CARICOM General Secretariat.

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Geoffrey de Sibert is an international business executive with a thirty year career in finance, technology, and real estate business development in the US and Europe. Since 2010 he has focused his activities on the application of international business development to agri-businesses in emerging economies. He is currently is Joint Executive Manager of Belize Agricultural Enterprises, an investment and development firm based on Soledad, California.

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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Chabil Mar Villas Voted Top Family Resort in Central America - MarketWatch


Chabil Mar Villas Voted Top Family Resort in Central America
MarketWatch (press release)
PLACENCIA, Belize, April 27, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Chabil Mar Villas, a luxury boutique resort in Placencia, Belize, recently received a 2012 TripAdvisor Traveler's Choice award for being one of the top 25 hotels for families in Central and more »

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Placencia, Belize: The Beach Town That's Easier Than Ever To Get To - International Living


International Living

Placencia, Belize: The Beach Town That's Easier Than Ever To Get To
International Living
On this, my second trip to Belize, in 1980, I'd come to dive the world's second largest barrier reef, just offshore the small towns of Seine Bight and Placencia in southern Belize. Flying by tiny sea plane was the easiest and fastest way to get here

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43rd ANNUAL NATIONAL AND AGRICULTURE TRADE SHOW OPENS - LoveFM


LoveFM

43rd ANNUAL NATIONAL AND AGRICULTURE TRADE SHOW OPENS
LoveFM
During the opening ceremony, Minister of Natural Resources and Agriculture Gaspar Vega told the nation that agriculture remains an important contributor to the Belizean economy, a fact that must not be lost on Belizeans from every walk of life.

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2012 Belize Maya Summer Vacations a "Rare Opportunity" – San Francisco Chronicle


2012 Belize Maya Summer Vacations a "Rare Opportunity"
San Francisco Chronicle (press release)
The Lodge at Chaa Creek's resident Mayanist, anthropologist Joe Awe, said 2012 is an exciting time not only for the Maya people of Belize, but for archaeologists, anthropologists, Maya healers, academics and professionals from around the world, and more »

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BETEX is Belize’s Rising Tourism Star, Says Chaa Creek - PRweb

The success of last week’s Belize tourism expo is one more indication that the growth of the Belizean travel and tourism industry is on the right track, the owner of Belize’s premier eco lodge said today.
The success of last week’s Belize tourism expo is one more indication that the growth of the Belizean travel and tourism industry is on the right track, the owner of Belize’s premier eco lodge said today.
Lucy Fleming, who along with her husband Mick own The Lodge at Chaa Creek, regarded as a pioneer in the Belize tourism industry, said that the quality of offerings at this year’s BETEX, the Belize Tourism Expo, highlighted the fact that the Belize tourism is moving in the right direction.

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The Post-Recession Development Market in Belize

Geoffrey de Sibert 
As the post-recession real estate development market begins to unfold, it is revealing some dynamic parameters that, if taken advantage of, are expected to lead to enhanced stability, sustainability, and profitability in future resort community development endeavors. While the recession caused financial stress for many real estate developers and their clients, it also appears to have created an entirely new composition for both the supply and demand sides of the resort development market.

Pre-recession financial markets often allowed upstart developers who lacked experience, credentials and proper capitalization, to achieve financing that at least enabled them to get their projects to the initial sales launch stage. This led to numerous fledgling projects saturating the supply side of the resort market and when the "easy money" available for investments dried up, the projects crashed, too, and became part of a burgeoning "distressed property" supply. Meanwhile, the easy consumer credit terms led numerous speculative buyers on the demand side to participate in the second home or vacation home market, often leaving them in default when their ability to get credit disappeared.

-Geoffrey de Sibert
Photo credit: Copyright 2011. All Rights Reserved "CubaGallery."

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