Growing Vegetables for Asian Markets in Costa Rica

By Jaime Lopez – December 28, 2014 for The Costa Rica Star

Farmers and grocers in Costa Rica sometimes lament certain facts of free trade and globalization; to with: A significant portion of garlic, rice and even black beans, all staples of traditional cuisine in this country, are actually imported from China. Due to the agricultural economic background of Costa Rica, some may consider this to be a trade imbalance; however, some entrepreneurs are taking this situation in stride by growing vegetables traditionally used in Asian cuisine and exporting them to that region.

The following press release is from Naturewalk Farms, a rural business community in Turrubares, located near between the Central Valley and the Central Pacific Coast.

Sustainable Organic Asian Vegetable Production Expands in Naturewalk, Costa Rica

PRLog – Nov. 18, 2014 – JACO, Costa Rica — Over the last 8 months, Naturewalk completed a test growing program, involving 6 varieties of asian specialty vegetables. The results proved very successful with crop growth and yields meeting or exceeding expectation.

These vegetables have been traditionally grown in other parts of Central America and the Caribbean for the North American market. “This is the first large commercialization program of these specialty vegetables to take place in Costa Rica” says Tim Alexander, President of Naturewalk “we are pleased to be adding this strong agricultural component to our activities at Naturewalk. This is a real win for the area in terms of jobs, employment and economic stimulus and of course we are excited to be developing this program at Naturewalk”.

The first of 4,000 Chinese, Indian and Thai eggplants are due to be shipped the third week of November from the nurseries in Grecia. Over a 4 month cycle a total of 90,000 plants will be planted to meet demand for two containers per week shipped to U.S. east coast seaports due to beginning in February 2015. Other vegetable varieties include Thai Hot Pepper, Preeti, Bangana Lina, and Greengo Cucumber.

Participating in the program with technical support and seed stock are East-West Seed Company Limited with head offices in Nonthaburi , Thailand. East West Seed is one of Asia’s leading vegetable seed suppliers distributing high quality seeds to over 60 countries worldwide. East West is supporting Nature Walks program locally with on-the-ground technical expertise through its locally trained agricultural engineers.

Naturewalk Farms, a division of Naturewalk Brands grows a wide variety of tropical produce including Tiquisque, Nampi (Taro), Nami, Vanilla, Ginger Papaya and Organic Pineapple. The Farms, located in the Central Pacific, supply local markets as well as export to North America. Naturewalk is a fully master-planned community of 1200 acres in Turrubares Costa Rica. Owners in Naturewalk own fully serviced lots on which they can have their dream home. Owners further benefit from fully managed crops growing on their land, giving them an income. The master plan for Naturewalk includes a condo hotel, eco hotel, adventure center, equine center and town center with shopping facilities in addition to homes.

For further information visit www.costaricainvest.ie or call USA +1-202-697-9284 or Europe +353-1-272-4184

See the full story in The Costa Rica Star HERE

Working in Naturewalk

A primary aim in Naturewalk is to provide sustainable employment in the area.

Here are pictures of some of the team in Naturewalk working in Permalife Farms

Tiquisque growing well in Naturewalk 3, Turrubares, Costa Rica

Installation of irrigation system in Naturewalk

Horse riding in the Tulin River, Naturewalk, Costa Rica

NatureWalk Conservancy Project Begins

NatureWalk is committed to developing on an ecological and sustainable basis. A part of that commitment is the reforestation and tree planting to be carried out. 600 trees will be planted both on and offsite for every development lot sold in NatureWalk.




John Bryant is the director of Conservancy and Diego Commancho is the forestry engineer.

New entry level investment opportunity in Nature Walk

A new type of hybrid investment is now available starting at US$5,000.00 sponsored by NATUREWALK Projects in Costa Rica. This entry level investment allows individuals to participate in the NATUREWALK sustainable investment program and achieve investment and socio-economic goals that have only previously been available to larger scale investors.

Different from a pooled investment format, each US$5,000.00 investment receives a secure, titled interest in real estate as well as a proportional investment in teak forestry grown on the lot. These real estate interests are title guaranteed by Chicago Title Company, a multi-billion dollar U.S. based title company through its exclusive agent in Costa Rica, Latinamerica Title Company.

Investment Lots offered in this program have been selected on the basis of superior location, amenities and views of the ocean and have been categorized in terms of length of investment period. Participants select the investment term that fits their individual investment goals. Each lot is different in size, outlook, number of interests, pricing and length of investment giving the participant a range of selections.


We have created 3 categories of investment terms to suit individual strategies:


Short Term (Three Year), Medium Term (Five Year) and Long Term (Seven Year)


Each lot and its common ownership is governed by a Trust Investment Plan which is jointly administered by Trust Latinamerica Title acting as Title administrator trustee and Naturewalk Sales Trust 1 administering the maintenance and resale of the Property. The Trust Investment Plan contains instructions to the joint Trustees governing the maintenance, security and disposition of the real estate at the end of the investment period.

Tim Alexander, from NATUREWALK projects, commented "we have had huge interest in our new NATUREWALK development, and many smaller investors had inquired as to how they might get involved. This new titled interest share opportunity is ideal for smaller investors with a desire to be involved in an eco-friendly, sustainable, profitable project."

James Cahill from Costa Rica Invest added "we are delighted that NATUREWALK has responded to the needs of smaller investors by creating this new opportunity and with each shareholder receiving a secure titled interest in Real Estate with their title guaranteed by Chicago title they know that their shareholding is backed and underwritten by their land".

Webinar - The SIP formula Explained

Thursday May 27th 1:00pm EDT (5:00pm GMT)(6:00pm BST)

In this informative webcast, host, James Cahill of Costa Rica Invest outlines the investment dynamics of the NATUREWALK offering of LAND + TEAK FORESTRY + DEVELOPMENT USE.

Find out why this investment model performs BETTER that most and why it is SAFER that most. With the recent trends in the market indicating a turnaround is in process in the real estate, tourism and forestry sectors of Costa Rica, how will this trend effect the Land, the Forestry and Development components at NATUREWALK.

For those who are not familiar with Costa Rica, a quick presentation on the Country is offered as well as information on the NATUREWALK PROJECT and it's socio-economic objectives. Joining for this session is Tim Alexander of PRG Canada, the Developers of the NATUREWALK brand of ecological developments who will highlight the growing importance and influence on real estate development of trends concerning the environment, social responsibility and corporate governance.

This interactive webcast presentation will last approximately 20 minutes followed by a Q&A session for you to ask specific questions.


As a small thank you for attending we would love to send you a gravity defying teak wine bottle holder. This is hand carved from teak from Nature Walk. So don't forget to give your full address details and we'll ship direct to your door after the webinar. We have a limited number so the first 25 registrant attendees only!!

To register for the webinar just click on the button below


or cut and paste the following URL into your browser

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/270444650