Agri-Business, Production, Processing and Marketing Information ...

Holland shows strong interest in mangoes
FTK Holland believes potential exists to develop sales further
There are still some weeks in the year when mango supphes are short
T N 1992 a total of 11,180 tonies of
. mangoes were imported by
Holland, of which Brazil accounted
for 22 per cent, South Africa 14 per
cent and Puerto Rico 13 per cent.
Achilles de Naeyer of FKHolland ­
a company which captured an
approximate 30 per cent share of the
Dutch market for mangoes last
German mango imports soar
year - believes further growth is
possible. "Sales of real exotics are
growing at a rate of 20 to 30 per cent
each year in Holland and FTK aims to
keep in line with this development",
he said.
1n early April, FTK was just finishing
its South African r ango programme
and entering a new season of imports
Germans are now eating more mangoes than avocados
" 4THILE fie UK and France
'V continue to be Europe's
leading importers ofmangoes, sales
are rising considerably in Germany
as well with'mango imports now
exceeding avocado imports. Klaus
Pape of Atlanta Scipio told
Eurofruit Magazine that mango
imports now exceed 10,000 tonnes
every year, a figure which reflects
the increasing interest of German
consumers in this item.
Atlanta concentrates primarily on
Puerto Rico for its mango supplies,
"From April to September 1993 we
aim to strenghten our imports of
mangoes under the "Pango Mango"
brand", commented Mr Pape.
"These are supplied by Fruit
International in Puerto Rico and
have achieved very good results in
recent years." Irwin, laden, Parvin,
Eurofruit Magazine My 1993
.
from Mali, Burkina Faso, the Ivory
Coast, Mexico, Guatemala, Puerto Rico
and Israel. However, in spite of all the
talk ofyear-round availability, Achilles
de Naeyer says that there are still some
weeks in the year when mango
supplies are sbort, as one crop ends
and anothe, starts. "Due to new
growing techniques, some varieties can
be harvested over a longer period,
enabling both importers and exporters
to spread volumes more evenly and
avoid oversupply in a short period",
said Mr do Naeyer. "However, there
are still some gaps to be filled."
Mr de Naeyer.added that the quality
of the mango crops varies greatly from
cour.'ry to country. One problem, he
believes, is that there are no official
packaging and quality standards for
this item, so requirements depend
solely on the needs of the individual
importer.
FTK Holland brings in most of its
mangoes by sea, with small quantities
brought in by air at the beginning of
certain mango seasons. At the time of
writing, Mr do Naeyer said that the
mango market had been very strong in
Holland, b'it that the beginning ofMay
should see a return to normal selling
prices due to abundant volumes
expected on the market. N
Tommy Atkins, Van Dyke and Keltt
are the main varieties Atlanta plans
to import. Mr Pape told Eurofrult
Magazine that the first arrivals from
Puerto Rico were due at the end of
April, although air shipments had
commenced several weeks earlier.
"Our eventual aim is to bring all of
our imported mangoes into
Germany by sea", commented Mr
Papa. "The voyage from Puerto Rico
is perfectly suitable in this respect"
He added that work is now being
undertaken to find the most suitable
type of packaging for mangoes in
the future. Retail demand tends to
centre on module sized packaging
and 80 x 120 cm pallets, Mr Pape
said.
Ehud Pelkes,general managerof Fruits
International,PuertoRico