According to producers, last year, Guatemala exported more than 4.2 million cases of mangoes to the United States, Central America, and European countries. They also said that their strategy was to increase domestic consumption and reach new international markets, such as Chile.
"Our goal is to open markets and generate new opportunities for producers," said the chairman of the Mango Committee of the Guatemalan Association of Exporters (Agexport), Eddy Martinez. He also said that the United States was the main destination for mango exports, where they export an annual average of 45 to 50 million pounds of mango of the Tommy variety.
According to the business entity, Guatemala is the fifth mango producing country in Latin America, after Mexico, which ranks first, Peru, Ecuador, and Brazil.
Martinez also said that mango and avocado were two fruits with a growing demand in the US market, and that Guatemala intended to consolidate its presence in both markets.
This year, Guatemalan producers will begin to export mango to Chile, after the respective export protocol was signed last year once the legal and health requirements were met.
"We are excited to start exports to Chile. That country, which doesn't produce mango, is being supplied by producers from Peru and Ecuador. Guatemala will be the first Central American country to venture into that South American market," he said.
He also said that they were working to export to the demanding Asian market and that they should start making shipments of mango to Japan and Korea in three or four years.
Last year, the country exported 4,250,000 boxes of fresh mango to the United States, Central America and Europe, mainly to the Netherlands, stated Agexport. The main producing departments in the country were Retalhuleu, Zacapa and Suchitepequez, they added.
Martinez also said that, as part of their strategy to position the fruit, they had held the First Mango Festival in the country's capital to boost national consumption and help producers.
The goal of the festival was to inform people about the nutritional properties of mango, the different varieties there are, and its excellent quality and price, of one of the most consumed fruits in summer, he said.
Source: Notimex