Fruit exporters in Réunion, an overseas department of France in the Indian Ocean, are reportedly threatening to dump their produce outside the island’s main airport in protest at an anticipated reduction in flights, for them vital transport links with international markets.
The planned action was confirmed by Jean-Yves Mintachy, president of the General Confederation of Réunion Growers and Breeders, who said farmers were willing to dump their fruit at Roland Garros airport if nothing was done to rescue the situation.
Mintachy is understood to have organised meetings with representatives of the island’s main airfreight carriers, Air Austral and Air France, to explore possible alternatives.
“Because of the cancellation of four flights of Air France and Air Austral, over 150 tonnes of fruit may remain stranded in the field, to the detriment of the local economy,' he said in a letter to regional president Didier Robert.
“At a time when major fruits such as lychees, mangoes and pineapples, which are very popular in the foreign market for their quality and traceability, are in season, a lack of air cargo will prevent the affected producers from achieving the export tonnage targets they have set.”
Réunion supplies a small but significant volume of Victoria pineapples (known also as baby or queen pineapples) to Europe and, as stated in a report published recently by the Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries (CBI), is the preferred source for that variety ahead of Mauritius and South Africa.
According to the CBI, part of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, exports of Victoria to the EU market roughly account for 20 per cent of the total airfreighted pineapple market worldwide.
“Depending on the markets, EU importers will choose pineapples from La Réunion, Mauritius and South Africa - in that order, mainly because of the taste of the fruits,” the report said.
