- Heart of palm is also commonly known as "palmetto," a local name for the product.
- The world's largest producer of palmetto is DEMASA, which controls 20 percent of the world's production. However, DAMASA only offers the canned variant of the product and does not export freshly cut produce to the US.
- Other top producers of palmetto include Conservas del Valle, Palmitos of Costa Rica, Ticochaal, Palmitos del Norte, Palmitos Amador, Corpa S.A., Tucurrique, and El Hogar.
- Due to their extremely short life span, fresh palmettos are mostly sold in the local food markets of their host countries, while those meant for export are often canned.
Summary of Findings
In our initial hour of research, we were able to identify the top producing countries and top producers of the "heart of palm" across the globe. Although we were not able to identify any farms or exporters outside the US that facilitate the delivery of fresh palmettos to the US, we believe it is possible to identify a number of businesses that provide the required services based on the insights already garnered in the preliminary research.