Dominican Republic seeks to lead the global coconut market: A growing giant
The coconut industry in the Dominican Republic is facing a golden opportunity. With global demand growing by over 10% annually and a market that moved nearly 65 million tons in 2024, the country has the potential to climb in rankings thanks to its productive capacity and its growing processing industry.
During the first Coconut Summit, DominiCoco, experts from the agro-industrial sector highlighted that the key to taking advantage of this boom lies in modernization, investment, and the development of products with higher added value. While nations such as Indonesia, the Philippines, and India dominate 70% of the global supply, the Dominican Republic has demonstrated exceptional dynamism with productive growth exceeding 10% annually over the last four years.
Local production: Data and challenges
The productive outlook is encouraging but presents significant challenges. According to the National Agricultural Registry, the country has more than 5,100 producers and a planted area that private estimates place at nearly 880,000 tareas. The provinces of Samaná, María Trinidad Sánchez, La Altagracia, and Monte Plata remain the pillars of this crop.
We are leaders in the category, but we are leaders in importing coconut. The Dominican industry has demonstrated international competitiveness, but we still need to close the gap between processing capacity and available national production.
Horacio Lerva, Consorcio Cítricos Dominicanos of Grupo Rica
This comment by Lerva highlights a paradox: although the country is a successful exporter of coconut cream and milk to the United States —significantly outperforming Southeast Asian competitors in the U.S. market—, the industry has had to import nearly 83 million dollars in raw materials over the last five years to meet its domestic demand.
Towards a comprehensive transformation
To turn this sector into a more robust economic engine, the strategy proposed in DominiCoco focuses on several critical fronts:
- Technification and Irrigation: Only 17% of plots have irrigation systems, a determining factor for increasing productivity per task.
- Sustainability and Value Added: The comprehensive use of the fruit, from the peel as substrate to the gourd as fuel, is vital for profitability.
- Generational Turnover: With 71% of producers over 50 years old, it is urgent to attract young people through mechanization and access to financing.
- Import Substitution: The long-term goal is to reduce external dependence and strengthen the local value chain.
Carlos Grullón, the main promoter of the summit, emphasized that growth should not be limited to expanding the cultivated area, but rather to maximizing efficiency and quality. With the participation of representatives from 11 countries and a clear vision for the future, the Dominican Republic is on its way to consolidating its position in the international market, transforming its natural advantages into an engine of income and sustainable development for the Dominican countryside.
