"One thing became evident this year - consumers are quite happy to pay good money for good-quality, tasty mangoes. Northern European supermarkets prefer Kent mangoes. There's a good market for these mangoes all year round. However, things get interesting when there are slightly too few or too mangoes on the market. Just like last spring and summer," begins Henk van der Meij of the Dutch company Hars and Hagebauer.
The Ivory Coast season was problematic, as usual, with quite a lot of fruit arriving in a short time with accompanying low prices. However, an unexpected shortage followed. "That immediately led to great prices being paid for the scarce fruit. That lasted from July through August, with prices being paid that we haven't seen in a long time."
"The growers were hopeful, and everyone was in a positive mood. Only the sky-high sea freight put a damper on the atmosphere. But, with summer prices like those, even those skyrocketing costs were still affordable. But such a situation never lasts too long. There's a reason people say, 'what goes up, must come down'," Henk continues.
"Since then, we've moved into the typical late summer dip with far fewer sales and some random, mediocre fruit on the market. Prices are under considerable pressure. Additionally, Spain is early to the market with mostly small sizes. We've gone from a seller's to a buyer's market. Unfortunately, Israeli growers couldn't take advantage of the high summer prices. As their crop slowly ripened, they watched prices in Europe with interest. Sadly, by the time their fruit arrived, prices had already dropped."
"I think, with these fairly small volumes entering the market, prices will soon correct back to reasonable levels. The market could do with some mangoes. There's a key question, though," says the importer, "Is this price dip because of the general economic malaise with the situation in Ukraine and gas prices? Or are we trying to see non-existent connections? It's a fact that sales to Ukraine have collapsed entirely."
"There's undoubtedly support for the argument that Europeans will eat less luxury fruit in these uncertain times. Yet, people also say that fruit and vegetable consumption will continue, regardless. Who knows? Let's hope the war ends soon. That would be nice for us as fruit importers, but even more so for the victims of that violence," concludes Henk.
For more information:
Henk van der Meij
Hars & Hagebauer
90 F Selderijweg
2988 DG, Ridderkerk, NL
Tel: +31 (0) 180 745 100
Mob:+31 (0) 630 762 555
Email: henk@harshagebauer.nl
Website: www.harshagebauer.nl