56 minutes ago, gulfporter said:good trade agreements with Spain, Italy as the prices on specific products here are often less than what I've seen them sell for in US.
Oh, how I envy you. Since the beginning of the pandemic we are seeing less and less imported foods. The problem is twofold. First is trade agreements, the only one that they seem to have a good trade agreement with is China. Second is shipping and customs. Much of the food comes overland from The States and it all has to pass through Nicaragua. Trucks can sit on the northern border of Nicaragua for over a week before they decide whether to let them through or not. Two restaurants here, Chili's and Outback almost went out of business because their food all came in overland and by the time it got here it was outdated or ruined. The second problem here is
Customs. Many of the store managers complain that Customs is so slow that the food sits on pallets in warehouses and by the time it reaches the store it is almost past its sell by date. Food prices here go up daily in Costa Rica is now one of the most expensive places to live in Central America.
