For Van Ravenswaaij, the mango season from Ivory Coast is about to start again. “The first containers have been loaded and will arrive in the Netherlands before Easter. Because Peru had heavy weather, people there could load less than initially planned. That’s why I expect a good mango market for the coming time,” says Christiaan van Ravenswaaij. “The prospects are good from West Africa. It rained in time, and we therefore hope to receive plenty of volumes. The season is always short but intense from Ivory Coast, because surrounding countries have production soon after.”
Airplane mangoes
From mid-April, multiple shipments of airfreight mangoes will also arrive weekly. “In recent years, this product found its way to various markets. For example, we have several market vendors and shops who buy a weekly portion. Compared to ‘boat mangoes’ these are obviously considerably more expensive, but we can tell enthusiasts appreciate these,” Christiaan continues. “But flying in mangoes remains a different story. Everyone still remembers the attacks on Brussels Airport last year, which caused enormous chaos to the airfreight from Ivory Coast, although this was naturally nothing compared to the distress people experienced here.”
Social certification
“Social certification is becoming increasingly important. Our suppliers are both GlobalGAP and GRASP certified. GRASP is an addition to GlobalGAP, and it looks at the social circumstances in Ivory Coast. These are expenses that are absolutely worth it. The circumstances in some African countries are not always as they should be. By means of these investments, they look at what should be improved, and they actually work on that,” the importer concludes.