YO Amankwah & Sons, an exporter of mangoes from Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire under the Fruit Brothers name, is intent on boosting exports to the European market this season, according to sales and marketing manager Samuel Owusu Amankwaa.
The company is preparing for the first mango shipments of the season in April, to be exported from Abidjan, and Amankwaa is keen to look beyond the firm’s main markets.
“We produce the Kent variety, which has a good colour, a nice flavour and a long shelf-life,” said Amankwaa. “We supply the Middle East, including the UAE and Iran, and we sent some decent volumes to Russia last season. But we are a bit skeptical for the coming export season, which is why we want to focus on the EU market.”
The company plans to set up a new company in France to handle its mango and pineapple shipments from Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, according to Amankwaa. It is also looking at how to process mango volumes that are deemed unsuitable for export in order to minimise waste in the group’s operations.
