If the great British weather had been a bit more predictable this season, the mango sector would be in celebratory mode. The industry has an impressive armoury to tantalise UK consumers, but poor weather has dampened demand in some quarters.
Nevertheless, the industry is forging ahead and is confident that it can overcome the current climatic challenges.
UK importer Wealmoor claims it handles more mangoes than any other business in Europe and has developed strong relationships with its grower partners worldwide. “We work closely with our growers to plan future capacities and develop the most efficient and product-friendly supply chains,” says Wealmoor’s Mark Horton. “We have a roving quality manager on farm to assist during each of the main production seasons, and to make sure best practice is shared amongst our growers.”
Wealmoor has recently opened a dedicated fruit-handling facility in Greenford, Middlesex, to handle mango and other exotics. It is also expanding its grower base and increasing plantings with key growers.
Horton feels mango consumption will continue to grow as more people gain exposure to the fruit and become inspired to use it. He does acknowledge, however, that mango has already become a mainstream product, available year-round, and as it is often on offer at around £2 per kg, it is not expensive.
Mango demand generally tends to peak during January and February, and again in July and August, although summer peaks are subject to the availability of other fruits and promotional opportunities, says Sudhir Mehta, commercial director of Minor Weir & Willis Ltd (MWW).
MWW has reported an increase in its mango imports on last year, and the firm hopes more promotions will be conducted in the near future to continue driving sales.
According to MWW, there have been a few supply issues out of Costa Rica and Puerto Rico this year. “In the case of Puerto Rico, we have a lot of fruit available for export; however, due to a limitation of available seafreight, we have not been able to ship the volumes we would have wished to,” Mehta explains.
Peru has also been described as a major problem due to a reduction in volumes. “This resulted in high prices and reduced availability in April,” Horton says.
In recent years, there has been a move towards non-fibrous varieties, and sources say the Kent and Keitt varieties remain the ones to watch. MWW has made key investments with strategic partners to ensure year-round availability of both varieties and is also exploring new source, countries that it hopes to introduce in the near future.
According to Mehta, demand for Kent and Keitt is also growing from the foodservice and prepared sectors, which are seeing growth in excess of 30 per cent.
With this impressive statistic, it is unsurprising that some producers believe ready-prepared mango is driving the market. “The UK is a huge market for us and fresh-cut fruit is flying off the shelves,” confirms Agrexco’s Eitan Zvi. “We’re not even close to fulfilling UK demand.”
However, sources warn strong demand from Europe could affect supplies to the UK. The German market has traditionally plumped for Tommy Atkins but, according to Mehta, there is a move on the continent to establish a point of difference. “Some marketers feel this can be achieved by offering a non-fibrous mango variety; therefore, this could place additional demand on limited availability,” he explains.
Other varieties that are showing good potential are Palmer, Shelly, Heidi and Kensington Pride. “Some of these are now being grown in countries that will allow us to ship by sea in the future, thus allowing the price point to be reduced, and making the product more affordable to the end user,” Mehta says.
Countries that MWW is confident will continue performing well in the UK market are Puerto Rico, Brazil, Peru and Israel. “Puerto Rico has an eight-month season with a very large production unit of non-fibrous mangoes, and Brazil has no competition from other producers during its Kent and Keitt season,” Mehta says.
“Peru is the largest supplier of Kent and Keitt during its supply window, and Israel is the best source for potential new varieties and second to Spain in terms of proximity to the European consumer.”
As Israel gears up for the new season, Wealmoor says the country should enjoy a good season and has high hopes for the Maya and Shelly varieties. “These aromatic golden mangoes are very sweet and will feature highly during August and September,” Horton says.
Indeed, Israel is one of the UK’s major mango suppliers, and this year producers have the volumes to make a real impact. Total production is expected to weigh in at 30,000 tonnes and exports are expected at 15,000-17,000t.
Leading mango producer Agrexco expects to export roughly 8,000t this season, with 3,000t being sent to the UK.
“The crop is bigger than last year and although we won’t see much change in terms of volumes on a weekly basis, Keitt will help to extend the season,” Zvi explains. “UK demand is getting stronger for mangoes and, apart from Brazil, we don’t really see much competition from other countries, although Costa Rica is trying to extend its season for Keitt.”
Another major producer, Shoham, hopes to export 5,000t of mangoes this season. Of this, 2,500t are destined for the UK, according to Yinon Osem, marketing manager.
“We have been supporting our growers to help them change their varieties to better ones,” Osem says. “Companies such as Shoham understand that to push sales, you need to bring in good eating, good-quality mangoes. We are doing everything we can to push those varieties in to the mainstream.”
Osem is optimistic about the upcoming season and believes that aggressive marketing campaigns conducted for the speciality varieties, such as Maya and Shelly, should pay off in both the UK and Europe.
Indeed, Shoham is confident that the UK market still has much to offer. “Eating quality is such an important issue here and our advantage is that we develop new varieties for better taste,” Osem says. “In addition, the fact that we are only five to seven days from the market by sea allows us to bring fruit with much better maturity, which means improved eating quality and colour.”
Shoham has been hard at work over the last year, establishing direct contact with UK and European supermarket buyers in order to develop new lines for the speciality varieties.
It is also mindful of its carbon footprint and plans to seafreight all of its speciality mangoes. By doing this, Shoham hopes that the lower prices will enable more consumers to try new varieties.
Other companies keen to make gains include India’s Kay Bee Exports. The firm exported approximately 1,000t of mangoes this season, of which 70 per cent were destined for the UK.
The season got off to a slightly later start as last year’s heavy rains affected orchards, says Kaushal Khakhar, chief executive officer of Kay Bee Exports. Poor weather also cut the season short.
Despite the challenging conditions, Khakhar is confident that Indian mangoes will continue making headway.
“India’s most popular varieties are Alphonso and Kesar, and they are head and shoulders above other varieties available in the UK market,” he claims. “They are rightly called speciality mangoes and command more than double the price of some mainstream varieties.”
Khakhar says that as Indian mangoes become more widely accepted in the marketplace, they could also grab a slice of the fresh-cut market.
Kay Bee Exports has ambitious plans and is constructing a new packhouse which, according to Khakhar, aims to be the finest mango packing house in India. The firm’s new premium four-pack mango carton has also been well received, says Khakhar.
India was given a boost in May this year when the US lifted its ban on Indian mangoes. “This has opened up a huge market for Indian mangoes, and the US will probably exceed the quantities that Europe is currently importing from India,” predicts Khakhar.
Meanwhile, Pakistan is enjoying a return to form, following better growing conditions this year. Although storms hit orchards during the middle of the season, sources say weather conditions improved as the season progressed and exports could rise by as much as 40 per cent on 2006 levels.
Leading producer Iftekhar Ahmed and Co (IAC) is on course to export more mangoes this season and plans to ship 500-700t to the UK, says Waheed Ahmed, IAC’s marketing director.
Market conditions have been strong this season, thanks to the standardisation of packaging. “Producers can no longer pack mangoes in 1.7kg or 1.4kg cartons and must adhere to 2kg, 3kg, 4kg and/or 5kg cartons,” says Ahmed, adding that Sindhri and Chaunsa remain Pakistan’s most popular mango varieties.
In order to make gains in the UK, Pakistan growers must sign up to EurepGAP standards, says IAC, which is striving to achieve this accreditation for both mangoes and mandarins simultaneously.
IAC, which recently launched its second brand Lush, has conducted a few trial shipments with the Australia-Pakistan Agriculture Sector Linkages Program (ASLP) to improve theshelf life of mangoes. Ahmed says: “Mangoes have been exported to a number of destinations, with encouraging results. Data loggers were used to observe the state of the mangoes during the whole process, and this study will help us to eradicate the sap problem we have been facing over a number of years.”
Meanwhile, demand for Fairtrade mangoes shows no sign of slowing down, according to the latest AgroFair statistics. AgroFair introduced the first Fairtrade mangoes to the UK market in 2002 and, during the 2005-06 period, sales of its Fairtrade and organic-Fairtrade mangoes rose 133 per cent.
AgroFair’s Fairtrade mangoes are currently sourced from farming organisations inBurkina Faso, Brazil, Mexico and Peru and other sources are being developed.
“Fairtrade is an excellent match with mangoes - this delicious, exotic fruit is becoming more and more mainstream at a time when awareness of Fairtradeand Fairtrade sales areincreasing significantly,” says Clive Marriott, commercial manager of AgroFair UK. “Clearly, those open-minded shoppers who are picking up mangoes are the same as those who are open to the difference they can make by buying a Fairtrade product.”
Over the years, AgroFair has developed a year-round supply of Fairtrade and organic-Fairtrademango varieties including Kent, Keitt, Amelie and Tommy Atkins.
According to AgroFair, Fairtrade has greatly benefited mango growers in Burkina Faso. One grower, Nana Amidou, sells organic Fairtrade mangoes through the Fedaf co-operative, to supermarkets in Europe via AgroFair.
His group, the UDPFK (Union Départementale des Producteurs Fruitiers de Koloko), consists of 324 farmers organised into eight groups. “By co-operating together we can achieve a better price for our mangoes; there are more export possibilities and we can improve the living conditions of the community,” Amidou says.
The Fairtrade premium has further enabled the UDPFK to buy a lorry to transportmangoes to the local market. Amidou explains that the lorry can also be used as an ambulance for people in isolated villages and as a form of transport for larger groups of people, and the council even uses it to transport sand and to fill large holes in the road.
“In this way, the Fairtrade premium works not just for the producers but for the whole community,” Amidou says.
MWW is hoping to begin operating a Fairtrade mango plantation in Brazil with its partners this year. Once accredited, mangoes from the plantation will be made available across Europe, with first refusal given to its UK customers.
“We see a future demand for organic-Fairtrade mangoes and consequently have plans in place to fulfil this need,” Mehta says.
As the sector continues adopting innovative practices, further growth could be around the corner.
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