Nicaraguan beef

Nicaraguan beef production last year was $480 million, an increase of 50% since 2010.

Three quarters of total output was sold abroad, mainly to the United States, as beef became the country’s leading export, replacing coffee.

To help increase earnings, marketers could help promote Nicaraguan cattle as healthy and grass-fed, without hormones or antibiotics.

Traditional Nicaraguan growing methods could appeal to niche markets, which pay a premium for naturally raised beef.

Currently, Nicaraguan beef largely sells as an undifferentiated product to mass-market and fast food buyers.

All Nicaraguan beef will enter the United States duty-free as of 2020, under the terms of a trade agreement.

Most Nicaraguan beef already enters free of duty, thanks to an annual quota, which has been increasing since the agreement came into force in 2005.

For their part, environmentalists could minimize the impact of expanded cattle ranching, by selling properties to investors, who think that undeveloped land will in the future be worth more than beef.

Nicaragua has excellent beaches and well-preserved historical sites.

Much of the country is pristine jungle.