“For us Fruit Logistica is the only truly international trade fair for fruit and vegetables”, said Philippe Mavel, describing in the same breath the main features of the golden yellow Cayenne Lisse pineapples on display on his stand.
“A fine balance between sweet and sour,” said Mavel, the European representative of the organisation OCAB, a pool whose members consist of pineapple and banana growers in the Ivory Coast growing produce for export.
The 20 members represent just under 5,000 growers, which is over 90 per cent of the total pineapple production in this African country. Despite strong competition from Central America the OCAB has been able to achieve a 40 per cent share of the European market, he said. “Over the past six years pineapple consumption in Europe has increased by 200 per cent”, says Mavel with evident delight. It is hoped that sales to countries such as Poland and Russia will help to secure further growth in the future.
In addition to accurate traceability, these fruits can now demonstrate their quality individually: two years ago Lucien Delzechi, a member of OCAB and himself the owner of a 400 hectare plantation, adapted an instrument that was originally developed to analyse melons to enable it to be used on pineapples. A scanner exposes the fruits to a light that enables the acidity and sugar content, degree of ripeness and various other qualitative features to be determined without harming the fruit.
