Make a note in the diary - Mad4Mango Week is fast approaching. The upcoming event runs from September 12-18 and The Mango Association has organised a whirlwind of activities to celebrate the popular fruit.
“Our prime mission is to broaden the way in which we sell mangoes in order to appeal to a wider audience,” says Chris Abram, of Minor Weir & Willis and chairman of The Mango Association. “We’re coming up with novel and different ways to market them.”
This year Captain Mango, the new ambassador for mangoes, has been called on to help launch Mad4Mango Week for children. Activities will include recipe competitions and taste samplings.
“Behind the fun of Captain Mango there is a serious message,” says Abram. “With so much in the media this year about obesity, we wanted to focus our 2005 campaign on children and healthy eating. Captain Mango is helping us with some activities, and we want to get out and about to raise awareness of the exotic fruit.”
The Mango Association’s campaign further hopes to raise awareness of mangoes to all consumers and there will be a range of trade and consumer promotions.
The association consists of mango growers, marketing co-operatives, importers and distributors. Nine members make up the group and Martez Farms in Puerto Rico and Malet Azoulay are two of the companies to recently sign up.
Mangoes are a year-round business and importers are key to keeping the supply chain running smoothly.
Wealmoor claims it is Europe’s largest mango importer. As well as growing its own fruit in Gambia, the firm sources from more than 10 different countries including Peru, Brazil, Israel and Puerto Rico, says Paul Bailey.
Utopia is another year-round mango supplier that sources from many of the same countries as Wealmoor.
“It is our ambition to stay with the same growers year-in, year-out as we can then help them develop commercially, technically and ethically,” explains Lewey Hook, Utopia’s technical development manager.
“We have a fantastic supply base which is now able to provide us with good volumes at historically poor supply periods of the year.”
Nevertheless, Hook says it is necessary to look for other growers, regions and countries as there can be gaps at particular times of the year due to seasonal and climatic fluctuations.
Minor Weir & Willis, which cites its main mango source as Puerto Rico, is establishing strong relationships with growers in Costa Rica and West Africa.
“We import mangoes from a number of countries but I see Costa Rica and West Africa fuelling growth in sea-freighted mangoes, especially as more volume is coming out of West Africa,” Abram says.
He further notes that Australia is making a comeback. “Australian mangoes have been imported into the UK for years, but a while ago they became pretty expensive and other producers overtook them,” Abram explains. “However, consumers who regularly purchase mangoes are trading up and are returning to Australian fruit.”
Major UK importers primarily handle the smooth fleshed varieties Kent and Keitt, in addition to the more fibrous type Tommy Atkins.
“There is an increasing trend towards smooth fleshed varieties but speciality varieties such as Indian Alphonso and Kesar, Israeli Maya, Shelli and Kasturi, Gambian Maya and Ruby and Australian Kensington Pride are becoming increasingly popular,” says Wealmoor’s Bailey.
He attributes the growing interest to consumers becoming increasingly educated about the different varieties available.
Indeed, Abram notes that although Tommy Atkins has been a great commercial crop for many years, more retailers are requesting less fibrous varieties.
According to Wealmoor, mango volumes arriving in the UK are rising approximately 40 per cent year-on-year. “This is driven by a number of factors such as improved merchandising in store, successful long-running promotional strategies and guaranteed internal quality due to our F5 SACMI scanning equipment,” Bailey claims. “All of our retail customers are significantly out-performing the marketplace as a result.”
“There has been natural growth in mango sales and consumption, as well as increasing volumes in processed fruit,” adds Hook, noting that mangoes have developed into a consistent performer rather than a risky gamble.
However, it is important not to become complacent and Hook says that inconsistencies in the mango industry still deliver a poor eat or waste product. “This pushes up the price of all the fruit and does not guarantee a repeat sale. We are working in many different areas to guarantee a good eat. Consistency is vital if consumers are going to make repeat purchases,” he says.
Wealmoor believes that it has achieved its leading status due to innovative practises. “We continue to invest ahead of the curve,” says Bailey. “We were the first to commit to Near Infra-Red technology on mangoes, first to put them into uniform cartons and liners from source, and we have the best customer understanding. In this business, you tend to be as good as your last delivery, and we are managing to consistently out-perform the competition.”
“Our size in the marketplace gives us a critical mass which is appealing to growers who can ship to one supplier, rather than having to break their shipments up and deal with a large number of intermediaries. Additionally, being growers in our own right means that we are well aware of the level of returns that growers need to continue to commit to the UK market.”
Bailey notes that although mangoes are not particularly cheap, there has been a downward pressure on prices as with a number of other fresh produce items. He believes that success over the last couple of years has largely come through attractive promotional offers for the majority of the year, which has kept interest levels high.
Meanwhile, growers are reporting mixed conditions this year. Leading Pakistani producer Iftekhar Ahmed & Co (IAC) began air-freighting mangoes in late May, adding sea-freighted fruit in the first week of June.
“So far this year, our sea shipments of Sindhri mangoes have been 95 per cent successful and the result was 100 times better than air shipments due to some basic changes in the packing and stuffing of our reefer containers,” said IAC’s Waheed Ahmed in early August.
However, Mother Nature has not been kind to Pakistan’s mangoes this season, with cold weather in late February and March adversely affecting the flowering of the crop. Sizes have been unaffected.
IAC predicts that volumes will remain on a par with 2004. The firm is also involved in mango processing and recently acquired a pulping unit from Italy. “So far IAC has exported two containers of Chaunsa mango pulp to Mumtaz Food, Bradford, for mango Lassi,” Ahmed says.
According to Eitan Zvi, Agrexco UK sales manager, the Israeli season is progressing well. “We brought in more volumes during the first few weeks than we’d originally planned because of good demand,” he says, adding that Agrexco also took advantage of the limited availability of Brazilian mangoes in early August. Agrexco began the new season campaign at the end of July with Tommy Atkins.
Meanwhile, much attention is given to South America, especially when Brazil begins flexing its muscles. Luciana Pacheco of the Brazilian Fruit Institute (IBRAF) claims Brazilian fruit represents 30 per cent of international mango trade. The country’s main varieties are Tommy Atkins, Haden, Keitt and Kent.
Pacheco says: “The UK imported around 32 tonnes of Brazilian mangoes in 2004 and demand is increasing each year.”
Consumers want consistency and UK customers are certainly no exception. According to Pacheco, Brazilian mangoes need better marketing and consumer education is vital.
However, not all South American producers are interested in expanding exports to the UK. The Ecuadorian mango season is due to begin in mid October and according to Miguel Reshuan of Terelsa SA, it will be business as usual.
“I don’t think the volumes shipped to the UK will increase this season, it’s not a principal market for Ecuadorian exporters and the problem is sizing,” Reshuan says.
Mangoes, like any other fruits, are also susceptible to economic volatility. The South African industry experienced challenges this season, according to Christa Scholtz of the South African Mango Growers Association.
“This was a very difficult season for exports because of the interest rates and we only exported around seven per cent of our total crop,” Scholtz says. “In the past we’ve exported between 20 and 25 per cent.”
South Africa’s main competitors, Brazil and Peru, are busy expanding their crop and are targeting key export markets. “This might lead to an increase of volume to the EU market,” Scholtz predicts.
Previously, South Africa had targeted the EU markets at the beginning of the season, but more exporters are now sending their first consignments to the Middle East and Asia.
Despite the export difficulties, it was not all bad news for the South African mango trade. Local consumption was very good and the industry managed to do fairly well on dried fruit and juice. “If a producer’s quality and timing were good, he could have had a good season,” Scholtz says.
In contrast, India is one country that is enjoying strong mango growth. “Shipments to the UK have increased by almost 20 per cent because of wider demand,” confirms Kaushal Khakhar of Kay Bee Exports. However, he notes that growth in demand has been overshadowed by an increase in the number of small suppliers, resulting in lower average prices.
But it is transporting mangoes that is causing the most headaches. “Freight rates are the biggest constraint for Indian mangoes,” says Khakhar. “With the open skies policy advocated by the Indian government, most airlines resort to raising freight rates during the mango season. This is a big impediment for taking mangoes mainstream. We anticipate a growth of at least 50 per cent if freight rates are normalised as compared to other countries.”
Kay Bee believes that if sea-freight technology is developed, it could halve transportation costs. The exporter is hoping to make this a reality and is striving towards developing technology that will enable sea transport of existing varieties. It is also collaborating with various agricultural universities to develop hardier varieties that can withstand longer sea journeys.
In a normal season, good quality Indian Alphonso mangoes are available from the first week of April. However, the 2005 season was delayed by a couple of weeks and the variety came on-line during the third week of April. The Kesar variety started on time in the last week of May.
Weather has affected volumes this season and inadequate rainfall in key growing areas resulted in smaller average sizes.
However, Khakhar is confident Indian mangoes will continue to enjoy a strong following. “As European consumers start realising the unmatched taste and flavour of the Indian mango, consumption is bound to pick up,” he predicts.
Utopia’s Hook believes that the future for mangoes lies in flavour and development of varieties - an opinion that the industry is in full agreement with.
FAIRTRADE MANGO SALES ROCKET
UK sales of Fairtrade mangoes over the first half of 2005 rose 50 per cent compared to the same period in 2004. AgroFair UK imports more than 70 per cent of Fairtrade mangoes, under the Oké and Eko-Oké brands.
“The increase in sales of Fairtrade mangoes is indicative of the demand for Fairtrade,” says Duncan White, director of AgroFair UK. “We are actively creating a year round supply and are bridging the gaps in our mango calendar with new sources from Africa and Latin America.”
AgroFair supplies the mango varieties Kent, Keitt, Tommy Atkins and Amelie for eight months of the year, sourcing from Peru, Burkina Faso, Ecuador and Mexico. An additional supplier is expected to join the group in November, enabling it to offer mangoes at this time of the year for the first time.
The group recently helped establish Fruteq, an export company in Burkina Faso, to increase professionalism in the export business. “For growers on small plots of land from one of the world’s poorest countries, this kind of help can be invaluable when exporting produce for the first time,” explains White.
AgroFair’s team of experts helps growers tackle any problems with production. It also assists with organic conversion programmes, EurepGAP certification and looks at other ways production processes can be improved.
No comments yet