Supplies of Peruvian mangoes to Europe are significantly lower this year. "When I was in Peru in November, producers were talking of a 30% lower harvest already. I was still a bit sceptical then, but figures show that so far, 40% fewer mangoes were shipped to Europe from Peru," says André Boon of the Scherpenhuizen company, Eindhoven, exclusive partner and distributor of the Frutas Organicos del Peru.
Temperature changes
"The harvest got started a lot later, and the big differences in day and night temperatures in December have caused many smaller mangoes to be lost. By now the shipments have normalized somewhat, but the season will be a lot shorter. There will be reasonable shipments for one or two weeks, after which numbers will go down again," the importer says. "All in all a rather unique situation, because normally around this time the prices are going down due to massive supplies, but I don't expect that to happen now. At the moment, prices are at a decent level."
According to André, the volumes that are shipped to the United States, are higher than in other years. "Some more mangoes are also going to destinations like Chile and the Far East, but no huge volumes yet. Europe remains the most important destination for Peru, followed by the United States. At the moment there is also some supply from Brazil, but compared to Peru, those are small volumes. Peru mainly ships Kent mangoes. From Brazil there's also some supply of Tommy Atkins, Kent and Keitt."
The tree-ripened mangoes are packed in sizes 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 14 (88 on a pallet).
Pre-ripened and tree-ripened
"Until last year, we only sold the traditional mangoes, but this year we are also selling pre-ripened and tree-ripened mangoes. In the packing station at Frutos Organicos del Peru, a special section was built for the tree-ripened mangoes. These tree-ripened mangoes are especially picked. In the packing station, they're washed by hand, sorted by size and selected for quality and ripeness. Every mango is packaged in a protective net and in a special carton of 6 kg net. After packing, they're shipped to the Netherlands by air," the importer says.
"Mango consumption is still on the rise. I expect the fibreless mangoes in particular to grow a lot. In countries like Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Spain, consumption is already at a rather high level, and a significant growth is now also noticeable in other countries, including Eastern Europe," André concludes. "We're expecting supplies from Peru until the end of April, after which the season will be followed up by Ivory Coast and Mali."
For more information:
André Boon
Scherpenhuizen B.V.
T: +31 402584669
M: +31 6 547 288 50
A.Boon@scherpenhuizen.nl
www.scherpenhuizen.nl