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This report highlights the food processing industry, its drivers, key players, and market landscape in the Caribbean Basin. The region relies heavily on imports, and the United States is the largest supplier of food ingredients.

The food and beverage processing industry in Guatemala includes around 2,200 companies and plays a crucial role in the country's economy, contributing to employment, exports, and domestic food security.

U.S. agricultural exporters of consumer-oriented products are well-positioned to increase sales to Guatemala. In 2023, U.S. consumer-oriented export values reached a third-consecutive record on 15 percent growth from the previous year (Figure 3).

In 2023, the Guatemalan market showed significant potential for growth, with supermarkets, hypermarkets, and independent food stores expanding their locations.

The 2023 U.S. Agricultural Export Yearbook provides a statistical summary of U.S. agricultural commodity exports to the world during the 2023 calendar year.

In 2022, supermarkets, hypermarkets, and independent food stores continued adding locations, but retail volume sales fell versus 2021.

The 2022 U.S. Agricultural Export Yearbook provides a statistical summary of U.S. agricultural commodity exports to the world during the 2022 calendar year.

Supermarkets, hypermarkets, and independent food stores, continue expanding in Guatemala; imports of U.S. consumer-oriented products have continued to grow and in 2021, the value of these products reported a record year of $637 million.

Guatemala is one of the top food processing countries in Central America; meats and bakery and dairy products continue to lead the domestic food processing sector. U.S. suppliers have good opportunities to export bulk, intermediate, and consumer-oriented products that can be used as ingredients for further processing.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected the retail industry in Guatemala. Although supermarkets remained open during the crisis, the sanitary measures dictated by the government greatly impacted supermarket sales. Walmart Mexico and Central America is the...

Caribbean imports of consumer-oriented products shrunk from $2.3 billion in 2019 to $2.1 billion in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, yet Caribbean retail grocery sales grew by an estimated 6 percent during the same period.

Guatemala is one of the top food processing countries in Central America. U.S. suppliers have a good opportunity to export bulk commodities and raw materials for further processing in Guatemala’s food industry.