Until just over a month ago, the air freight market saw an acute shortage of airfreight capacity, which resulted in a tight supply situation. In recent weeks, however, the situation has changed rapidly: at present, slight oversupplies are seen in the market for air-freighted mangoes and avocados, says Pedram Pandijeh, buyer and seller at H. Ehmann Fruchthandels, based at the Hamburg wholesale market.
Air-freighted mangoes: 'The situation has completely changed'
At the stand of H. Ehmann Fruchthandels LLC, air-freighted mangoes from Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Senegal are dominating the current range. "Demand has been declining slightly over the last two to three weeks, due to the presence of stone and soft fruit. However, there is more than enough available; I would even speak of a slight oversupply." This would have a corresponding effect on prices: Kent mangoes are currently sold wholesale for 31-35 euros/6kg cartons, with the Dominican product being traded at an average of 5 euro more expensive.
Air-freighted Avocados: South America and South Africa overlap
According to Panjideh, there is also a noticeable oversupply of air-freighted avocados. "We offer avocados from several countries of origin, because the supply from South Africa is now slowly starting to pick up. At the same time, there are also batches from South American countries, like Chile." Meanwhile, the catering trade is not yet receiving the usual volumes. This lack of demand has led to falling prices. "Depending on quality, prices for matured goods are around 12-15 euros/box."
Papaya: demand unchanged
The range of peaches is rounded off with papayas of the Formosa variety. "We obtain this fruit year-round from Brazil. All in all, we are seeing an unchanged demand, with slightly higher prices compared to the previous year."
The latter is due to the limited airfreight space in the wake of the Corona crisis. "At the end of May and the beginning of June, there was a very tight supply situation for all the flight exotics and correspondingly high prices. In the meantime, the situation has completely changed."
Large increase in retail trade
All in all, H. Ehmann Fruchthandels has come through the crisis well: "Fortunately, Corona did not hit us so hard. Of course we were able to supply smaller volumes to catering suppliers, but there was a large increase in retail instead. Purchasing behaviour also changed completely during the lockdown: People cooked at home more and that meant they shopped more diversely: so we were able to sell more exotic products, especially vegetables. At the height of the crisis, ginger was marketed at three or four times the price."
For more information:
H. Ehmann Fruchthandels GmbH Nachf
Pedram Pandijeh
Großmarkthalle, Stand 354 
Banksstraße 28, 20097 Hamburg
T: +49 (0) 40 33 62 88
F: +49 (0) 40 32 68 13
Mail: pedram@ehmann-frucht.de
www.ehmann-fruchthandel.de