Phytosanitary regulations, while very important for ensuring fruit quality and protecting domestic production, have the potential to destabilise markets and hit producers where it hurts: the sales department. An EU ban on diphenylamine in 2012 had a big impact on apple growers and exporters in the US, who have since been unable to send their apples to Europe. Now mango producers the world over – particularly those in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) – will be worried that they too could be frozen out of the European market if they fail to comply with new EU plant health regulations on fruit fly.
Under the new rules, which are set to come into force in December but for now remain quite vague, mangoes will only be allowed to enter the EU if they have been “subjected to an effective treatment to ensure freedom from” non-European fruit fly. This treatment must be fully documented, and before the new regulation comes into force the National Plant Protection Organisation (NPPO) of each producing country must send a dossier to the European Commission outlining the treatments and/or pre-harvest integrated pest management that must be applied.
The new rules have been prompted by a high incidence of fruit fly in mango shipments from ACP countries in recent years, with the Europe-Africa-Caribbean-Pacific Liaison Committee (COLEACP) reporting “consistently high numbers of interceptions”. There is already a regionalplan to combat fruit fly in West Africa, part-funded by the EU, and COLEACP argues it is “critically important” for 2019 exports to be tightly managed until the new rules come into force in December. The organisation added that if fruit fly infestations are not effectively controlled and continue at the same level as in previous years then “it is possible that the EC will take more drastic action against imports from ACP countries for the 2020 season”.
Paul Tilbury, head of fruit at Wealmoor, said the regulations “may well prove a challenge to a number of countries and will be very dependent on the ability of in-country authorities to set out a definitive response” that gives the EU confidence theirs is a “free country”, “free region“ or has “an ability to maintain effective mitigation measures”.
Meanwhile, Rob Cullum of Pacific Produce points out that the new regulations will not only affect ACP countries but also growing regions such as South and Central America. “West African countries like the Ivory Coast and Senegal, Brazil, Ecuador, Central America, we’re all going to have problems,” he says. “If you look at big mango-growing areas in terms of exports to the EU, I think only Israel, which is a tiny landmass, will be able to meet this protocol easily.”
Peru, where Wealmoor’s mango production is focused, will also have to adapt to the new regulations. Although Cullum says fruit flies were found in only nine consignments of mango from Peru last season (from a total of over 8,000, including air and sea freight), he accepts that the new rules are “a serious problem for suppliers” since most places that grow mangoes are affected by fruit fly to some degree.
His worry is that Europe may eventually follow America’s lead and start heat treating its mango imports. “I don’t want that to happen for Europe because there are longer shipping times and we’ll have to offer a lower customer experience at the end of the day,” he says. “If you’ve put a mango through a hot water treatment at source and then you put it in a container for three or four weeks, it’s not going to have the same shelf life at the other end, which means the job of the ripener here is going to be much harder.”
Ultimately, Cullum is concerned that some of the progress made by UK mango suppliers over the past 20 years in making internal quality more consistent could be undone. The industry has moved on from the days when most mangoes were sold hard and the largest variety was Tommy Atkins, “which looks very nice but is stringy and doesn’t taste that great”. He warns against moving to a strict new protocol too quickly and potentially restricting the flow of thousands of containers to the EU. “Everyone’s got to talk about it and work out what is actually achievable because otherwise you can destroy the industry pretty quickly with straight line rules and regulations that jump in too fast.”
It should, of course, be mentioned that Brexit could change the situation for British mango importers, however companies like Pacific Produce, which sends about 25 per cent of its mangoes to the EU (50 per cent go to the US and the remaining 25 per cent are shipped to the UK), will be affected regardless.
Leaving pests to one side, Peru had a challenging season in 2018-19, with exports falling year on year and production starting late and finishing early. Supply fluctuated and there were gaps at certain points in the campaign as one area finished production and another began. “I see that as being relatively normal but it’s hard to guess what’s going to happen before the season gets underway,” Cullum says.
What is encouraging is that there has been consolidation of mango production in Peru in recent years, with farms expanding and operations becoming more professional. Whereas Peru grows many products on a massive scale, a lot of its mango farms have traditionally had just a couple of hectares. “The Peruvian sector’s becoming more professional now, with bigger operations, and it has to for efficiency and safety,” he says. “If we’re moving towards things like a fruit fly protocol, we’ll need bigger and more professional companies to be involved because it costs money to do that kind of stuff.”
This tendency for smaller producers in the mango sector has arguably limited the consistency of internal quality, which Cullum says is “probably the biggest bugbear” of consumers. Variety is also a factor, he believes, arguing that the category is yet to find an “out-and-out” winning variety. Whereas Hass has created a McDonald’s effect in the avocado category – “if you get a cheeseburger anywhere in the world, it tastes the same” – Cullum says the standard Kent and Keitt mango varieties still fall short of delivering reliable year-round quality, despite improved consistency. If the sector can crack this, Cullum believes mangoes can one day capture the imagination of consumers in the same way that avocado has.
Tilbury says there are only “small pockets” of new varietal development in mango, stressing that the main focus lies in growing known varieties in different regions and making use of more niche mangoes that possess unique characteristics of fragrance, flavour and colour. These include Maya, Sindhri, Baganpalli, Malica and Rapoza, all of which have yet to make any mark in Europe due to the usual challenges of hitting retail price points and offering extended shelf life while also delivering consistent product quality. The Wealmoor man argues that supply challenges this year – difficulties in Peru were exacerbated by rain in Brazil and a delayed start to the Ivory Coast season – demonstrate that a mix of varieties outside of the preferred Keitt and Kent is “essential”.
Encouragingly, Cullum for one sees big opportunities to boost consumption, not only in the UK, but also in Asia and eastern Europe. There is “definite potential” to increase mango exports to Russia and eastern Europe, where consumption remains low, he says. “Sometimes it’s about hitting a price point and getting people excited, and sometimes it’s about improving product quality. Mango might have had a bad reputation in eastern Europe because people have just shipped hard mango and it doesn’t work. You have to spend time, energy and money on making sure you give customers a good product.”
