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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 Dominican Republic’s food processing industry totaled $2.90 billion for calendar year (CY) 2024, in activities categorized as “food industry.” Beverages and other food products accounted for an additional $1.02 billion during the same period.

The United States is a major trading partner with the Dominican Republic (DR). The DR is the largest economy in the Caribbean and the seventh-largest economy in Latin America. Since the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) went into effect for the DR in 2007, U.S. agricultural exports to the DR have increased from $1 billion in 2007 to $2 billion in 2024.

On February 5, 2025, the Dominican Republic amended its Fiscal Control and Traceability System for Alcoholic Beverages and Cigars (TRAFICO), marking a significant victory for the U.S. alcoholic beverage industry.

In the Caribbean region, sales value in the retail grocery sector increased by 3 percent in 2023. This is due in part to the rise in tourism in many markets, which is boosting economic growth. The largest grocery retail markets are Trinidad and Tobago, Guadeloupe, and the Bahamas.

The Dominican Republic (DR) is the third-largest export market in the Western Hemisphere for U.S. consumer-oriented products. In 2023, U.S. exports of these products to the DR exceeded $1 billion, largely due to strong demand from foreign tourism and the retail sector.

The Dominican Republic, through its Ministry of Industry, Commerce and SME’s (MICM), announced the activation of the CAFTA-DR agricultural safeguard measure for imports of mozzarella cheese from the United States on May 22, 2024.

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.

The Dominican Republic’s food processing industry totaled $2.91 billion for calendar year (CY) 2023 in activities categorized as “food industry,” while processed beverages and other products amounted to $2.68 billion over the same period.

Sales in the Caribbean retail grocery sector decreased by 1.7 percent in 2022, primarily as the result of closing retail outlets in the French West Indies.

The Dominican Republic (DR) continues to list as one of the fastest growing and most dynamic economies in Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2022, U.S. agricultural exports totaled nearly $2.2 billion, an all-time record, powered by strong demand for consumer-oriented products. The

On September 29, 2021, the General Directorate of Internal Tax (DGII) of the Dominican Republic (DR) issued Regulation 07-21, implementing the Fiscal Control and Traceability System for Alcoholic Beverages and Cigars (TRAFICO) to tackle illicit trade and tax evasion in the alcoholic beverage and cigarette sectors.