The IMA Christmas Box will Include New Products Including a Bread Ring.
The director of the IMA announced that the new products are olives, corn, raisins, mustard, mayonnaise and mixed vegetables.
The Christmas box that the Agricultural Marketing Institute (IMA) will market this year will maintain its price of $15 and will include new products so that Panamanian families can complement the traditional Christmas dinner. Nilo Murillo, director of the IMA, explained that this year the Christmas gift box will include olives, corn, raisins, mustard, mayonnaise, and mixed vegetables, in addition to rice, pigeon peas, salt, sugar, and spices. The intention is to provide consumers with a wider variety of products to prepare their New Year’s Eve dinner. “This year we presented President José Raúl Mulino with the option of expanding that Christmas box,” explained Murillo, who emphasized that the new products will allow families to put together the different components of their Christmas dinner.
These products will be joined by the traditional picnic ham, which is part of the program’s offerings. Murillo indicated that the price will remain at $15 and that, additionally, the presidential couple will give a bread ring as a gift to each consumer who purchases the box. The measure seeks to offer an additional benefit to families participating in the program, which this year includes the sale of 500,000 processed pork legs in Panama. Murillo emphasized that the purchase of these legs also represents an opportunity for producers and the national industry, since the program will allow for the opening of local production.
“That’s 500,000 legs processed in our country, which also gives us the opportunity to give a very good opening to national producers and the national industry,” he said. The director of the IMA indicated that the institution has been working for more than two months on the necessary legal processes to launch the program. The expectation is that the contracts will be formalized by the end of October. To finance the initiative, the IMA will use approximately $22 million from surpluses accumulated between January and August in the Single Treasury Account (CUT), corresponding to IFAD and the IMA confiscation. According to Murillo, these resources will cover approximately 90% of the cost of the national picnic, while the remaining percentage will be paid between January and February 2027, depending on each contracted company.
“Which means that the payment is practically in cash,” he stated on Nex Noticias. The sales events are scheduled to begin between December 4th and 6th, with initial activities in Bugaba and Azuero. The IMA is also preparing a pilot plan that includes holding fairs in certain parts of the country on Saturdays, with the aim of bringing the program closer to more consumers and facilitating access to the products. Murillo explained that this approach seeks to “give people the opportunity to reach more places” and expand the coverage of the sales events. Regarding the purchase mechanism, the IMA continues to use QR codes as part of the process.
However, the institution is exploring alternatives to simplify the procedure, including allowing consumers to present their ID directly at the checkout to verify the sale, without needing to scan the code beforehand. The official noted that this option is under technological evaluation, although there are limitations related to the collection mechanisms and the legal provisions that a public institution must comply with. This year’s program will also feature a theme related to the Panamanian islands. Murillo explained that the campaign includes visits to 21 island sites in the country. Among the places included is Otoque, where the IMA was already present last year, as well as Gobernadora and other islands that will be part of the initiative.
