Ghanaian producer-exporter Fruit Brothers, part of Amankwaa Enterprise, is optimistic about its future on the Middle East market, according to sales and marketing manager Samuel Owusu Amankwaa.
Although the company’s main item is pineapples, which it supplies all year round, the focus for the Gulf market is on the company’s mangoes, which are available from May to July and from November to December.
“There are better opportunities for mangoes than for pineapples, which come from the Philippines by sea, while we have to go by air,” says Amankwaa. “We are optimistic. The volume of mangoes coming to this market is very promising.
According to Ghana’s Chamber of Commerce, US$1bn of mangoes come to the Middle East each year, so we have a good chance to ship more volumes if we target the market right.”
According to Amankwaa, the Dubai market is very particular about quality. “You can have all the necessary certificates, but if the quality is not good on arrival, it is pointless,” he says. “We ensure our growers are given full training in order to guarantee that they have the right quality specifications for the market.
“The sizes and quality of our Kent mangoes are really good, and we also supply the Keitt variety. People here know Ghanaian mangoes, but a lot have never bought them before. That’s because most Ghanaian mango exporters focus on Europe.”
Fruit Brothers is equally targeting Europe for its pineapples and mangoes, both conventional and organic.
“We export to Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal, but we also want to send to Germany,” says Amankwaa. “Our quality is right for this market. We supply the MV2 pineapple variety, or what I call the European variety. The important thing is to make the right contacts to help grow the business, irrespective of where we are.”
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