Traditional grocery saw a sharp contraction in sales in 2020 as a result of the pandemic; this has continued in 2021. Although many consumers stepped up their use of local independent outlets out of reluctance to travel, the comparatively weak product offer of these stores stronger sales; in addition, most are cash-only, and above all these players have struggled to source goods while supply issues have affected the country.
Traditional grocery retailers located inside malls, or outside busy pre-pandemic office buildings or universities have faced closure, as restrictions on movement and other lockdown measures have seen footfall plummet. This has led independent small grocers to strengthen ties to their local customers wherever possible.
During 2021, Instagram has become a hotspot for finding a wide range of niche and differentiated products in Costa Rica. This ranges from things like home-made or gluten-free bread, cakes for special occasions to fresh strawberries and frozen ice cream pops.
Over the review period, independent Chinese supermarkets led the way in creating consolidated buying structures that benefit from large volume discounts and organised negotiating capacity, Traditional grocery retailers have suffered in 2020 and 2021 from their inability to source a wide range of products, and could look to adopt similar practices to make themselves more effective. Governmental and non-governmental organisations are beginning to look at helping these players develop a more extensive range of business capacities, especially in the aftermath of the pandemic.
Despite the drop in sales in 2021, value sales are set to return to growth over the forecast period. Modern grocery retailers are the most dynamic part of the market, and will continue to invest in development; however, traditional grocery outlets play a very important role in providing groceries to rural and lower income neighbourhoods.
Costa Rica has been hit hard by the economic impact of the pandemic. Its debt problem is likely to lead to some type of IMF-mandated austerity measures, and this has already led to widespread unrest in 2021.
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Understand the latest market trends and future growth opportunities for the Traditional Grocery Retailers industry in Costa Rica with research from Euromonitor International's team of in-country analysts – experts by industry and geographic specialisation.
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If you're in the Traditional Grocery Retailers industry in Costa Rica, our research will help you to make informed, intelligent decisions; to recognise and profit from opportunity, or to offer resilience amidst market uncertainty.
Traditional grocery retailing is the aggregation of those channels that are invariably non-chained and are, therefore, owned by families and/or run on an individual basis. For Euromonitor traditional grocery retailing is the aggregation of three channels: Independent Small Grocers, Food/Drink/Tobacco Specialists and Other Grocery Retailers. While there can be modern (i.e. chained) food/drink/tobacco specialists or other grocery retailers, due to the store's presence in the channel, these stores are still considered as traditional for Euromonitor International.
See All of Our DefinitionsThis report originates from Passport, our Traditional Grocery Retailers research and analysis database.
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