Taiwan's top mango producing region has more than trebled its mango exports to Japan over the last seven years, a Taiwanese official revealed on Monday.
According to Asia Pulse, Tainan County in southern Taiwan shipped over 1,200 tonnes of mangoes to Japan between January and July this year, up from a total of 100 tonnes exported to that country in 2001.
The significant boost in shipments comes after great efforts by local mango growers and the county government to improve export fruit quality and promotional campaigns, Magistrate Su Huan-chih is quoted as saying.
Su said Japan-bound fruit from Tainan County is vapour-heat treated, and each exported mango is barcoded – guaranteeing complete traceability.
Better quality control has helped increase sales prices in Japan, Su said. However, he added that there is considerable room for export growth to Japan, in terms of attainable prices and volumes shipped.
“The best price for a mango of top quality produced in Taiwan is US$19 in Japan, while a mango produced in Japan's Miyazaki Prefecture or in the Philippines can be sold at US$90 and US$63, respectively,” Su said.
“In addition, Taiwan exports 750 tons of Irwin mangoes to Japan every year, which demands 10,000 tonnes of the same strain, while the Philippines is responsible for exporting the rest of Japan's demand.”
Tainan county boasts 540ha of contract orchards that produce 6,000 tonnes a year for export, of which 30 per cent will be shipped to Japan this year, Su said.
The county government established the Tainan Agriculture Trading Co. four years ago to promote the county's farm produce domestically and globally.
