Fruitnet.com's partner publicationsFRESH PRODUCE JOURNAL,EUROFRUIT,ASIAFRUITandAMERICAFRUIThave teamed up to publish a series of special interviews to coincide with the FIFA World Cup, featuring a member of the fresh produce industry from each of the 32 nations involved in the tournament.
Today it's Gonçalo Andrade of Portugal Fresh and Stephen Minsah of the Sea Freight Pineapple Exporters of Ghana ahead of their teams' Group G clash tomorrow (26 June):
What is your firm’s world-beating service or product?
Gonçalo Andrade:Portugal will always have a different geographical spread of products, mainly due to the climate: we are the only country in southern Europe with an Atlantic influence; we have very different conditions in terms of water, soils, sun hours and weather conditions, and this allows us to grow all year round. A lot of foreigners are investing in Portugal at the moment and that's a very good sign.
Stephen Minsah:Pineapples remain the primary fruit in Ghana. We have had some challenges since the mid-2000s, but we now have good technical expertise and good cold storage facilities, so the infrastructure has improved considerably, as have quality levels. Ghanaian pineapples compare very favourably with other countries'. Now what we require is investment in education in order to increase productivity.
What does the World Cup mean to people in your country?
GA:The World Cup is a huge thing for everyone here. Around 95 per cent of the population will be paying attention to the event and if the team wins and advances there will be an impact on consumers who will buy more. If they go past the group stage, we are hopeful that we could start to create some added value not only in the domestic market but also in foreign markets that have large Portuguese communities, such as France, Angola, Luxemourg and Switzerland. When Portugal organised Euro 2004, we were selling our Galia melons to the Portuguese community in Paris. We put our country flag on the fruit and the price went up.
SM:The World Cup is very important. Ghana is a huge football country, so participating in the World Cup is very exciting for everyone - men, women, children. It is something everyone is looking forward to. A lot of companies are taking advantage of the competition in their advertising to boost sales of their products, but not so much in the food sector. We are trying to do what we can to increase the recognition of our pineapples.
How do you think your national team will fare in Brazil?
GA:We always think they will do the best! This time, we believe that if they play as they have done in the last 15-20 years then they should do very well. At least quarter-final or semi-final.
SM: In 2006, Ghana did well to get past the group stage in Germany, then we improved further in South Africa in 2010, almost becoming the first African team to reach the semi-finals of a World Cup. Everyone is hoping we do it this year. Much of the Ghana team plays in Europe, so expectations are very high.
No comments yet