Notes from the field
Our local team on what they see in the China–LatAm corridor.
Central America is not 'small LatAm': why Chinese companies put their regional hub in Costa Rica
Free-zone regime, bilingual talent, two-port logistics — the advantages are real, but so are three traps almost every Chinese team walks into.
Six gates a Costa Rican coffee bean passes to reach China
Access lists, retail packs, Chinese labels, per-lot pricing, channel choice, freshness windows — none of the six is hard; getting someone to walk them all in one go is.
Why LATAMIGO
Three capabilities that determine delivery outcomes
Permanent presence in both markets
We maintain permanent teams in Shanghai and San José, covering the eleven-hour gap between China and Costa Rica. Documents move the same day; routine enquiries are answered within 24 hours, urgent matters before close of business. A physical presence on both sides means local employment, premises, tax registration and compliance maintained independently and on an ongoing basis — which is why most firms cover Latin America through agents or travel, and cannot commit to response times.
Compliance before quotation
Origin qualification, labelling specifications and tax-base assessment under free-zone regimes differ by market and change with policy. We verify the applicable rules item by item before submitting a proposal, and fold the issues identified on previous engagements into our planning to calibrate delivery timelines. On a coffee export project in Tarrazú, origin and labelling checks determined both customs clearance and time to market. The schedules we issue therefore consist of verifiable milestones, with no items left open.
Delivery criteria
Acceptance is measured against three results: the local team is in place, goods have cleared customs, and payment has been collected. All three must be met before a project is closed. If any one remains outstanding, we stay on the engagement until it is resolved.