Pakistan is expecting to see a sharp rise in its mango exports because Ramadan this year falls within the country’s mango season, according to shippers.
Waheed Ahmed, chairman of the country’s fresh produce import and export association and director of export firm IAC, said Pakistan expects to export around 15-20 per cent more mangoes to the Middle East, Far East and Europe this season because of Ramadan’s arrival during the mango season.
Meanwhile, Jango Farms, an exporter that mainly ships its mangoes to the UK, Spain and Canada by air, reported that its orders had already doubled this year compared to last because of Ramadan's dates.
Ahmed singled out retailers in the UK as showing much greater interest in sourcing Pakistani mangoes to meet demand from consumers during the Ramadan period, which this year runs from 28 June to 27 July.
Last year, UK retailer Asda bought large volumes for Ramadan, and this year exporters are in discussions with additional UK retail chains Tesco and Sainsbury’s, Waheed said.
“Ramadan is expected to give Pakistani mangoes a boost this year,” said Jango Farms operations manager Adnan Khalid.
The lifting of all EU import duties on Pakistani fresh produce earlier this year is also expected to increase exports to Europe this season.
“For sure we are assuming that the impact of lifting the import duty will positively impact on our exports,” Ahmed said.
“We are noticing growth in demand from the UK and Spain,” said Khalid.
However, the EU’s recent ban on Indian mangoes is a cause for concern rather than celebration for Pakistani exporters, according to Ahmed, who see it as a salutary warning to improve their post-harvest practices and avoid a similar fate.
“We have started panel discussions and meetings on governmental level to avoid such bans on our products,” said Ahmed. “Last but not least, we are also focusing on overcoming quarantine weaknesses and improving good agriculture practices and research and development at grower level.”
Up to now, growing conditions have been “satisfactory” for Pakistani mangoes, and the crop is looking good, according to Ahmed.
“As per growing area feedback, we are expecting an increase in crop production versus last season,” he said. “The projected forecast of production is about 1.7-1.8m tonnes, mainly from Punjab and Sindh provinces. However, it is still early days – harvesting starts on 25 May – and the weather can be an influential factor.”
