The Cultivar company, which distributes around 9 000 tons of mango per year, has become the main European importer of mango transported by airplane, which it markets via its Exotic Premium brand and other reference brands.
The company also markets avocado, papaya, and pineapple in its assortment of exotic fruits. Despite the great growth in mango, avocado is still the star product in volume, marketing around 10,000 tons of this fruit per year.
Its main market is Spain, although it markets exotic fruit throughout Europe, with destinations such as France, Holland, Italy, Greece, and Germany, among others. "The Spanish exotic fruit market has been growing at a steady pace for a couple of decades. Consumers become used to these products and they are increasingly common in their shops," says Sandra Sitjar, the Cultivar's marketing director.
"We believe that there is still great potential for products such as avocado, mango. or papaya, which will possibly end up becoming commodities, just like it happened with pineapple or kiwi, which were once exotic luxury products," she added.
Cultivate tries to supply exotic throughout the year, stocking on the best origins at all times. "We sell only selected fruit that meets strict quality standards in our Exotic Premium brand. We import our avocados from Peru, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, South Africa, Kenya ... and we work with the national product when it in season. Something very similar occurs with the mango. We sell national mango and complete the offer with mangoes from Peru, Chile, Brazil, Senegal, and Israel, mainly."
In this company's exotic fruit portfolio, papaya is the product that consumers know the least. Some wonder if this product could be consumed as much as mango in the Spanish market. "I think that papaya has great potential and an important development ahead of Spain, although reaching mango volumes may be difficult," stated Sandra Sitjar.
While Christmas continues to be an important date for the sale of exotic products, according to Sandra Sitjar, consumption is increasingly seasonally adjusted. "As exotic products become popular, people consume them at any time of the year and they become less special or stop being luxury products."
For more information:
Miriam Abdelasis
Cultivar
miriam.abdelasis@cultivar.net
cultivar.net/en
exoticapremiumfrutas.com