Exotic fruits are very popular around the Christmas holidays. Lychees are no exception. At the moment, wholesalers and importers of the Rungis market mainly offer the Mauritius and Reunion Island origins, which are sold at approximately 9 €/kg [9.6 USD/kg] for fresh lychees imported by plane and 3.5 €/kg [3.7 USD/kg] for the lychees imported by boat. Prices were decreasing this week.
Ach Celina, an import company that stores its products on the Rungis market, chose to bring fresh lychees by plane from Madagascar. “With my contact in Madagascar, Julien Razafimanazato, we started the campaign on November 28th and should end it on January 7th,” explains Cédric Celina of Ach Celina. “There is no point in starting the campaign early. I could have started on the 23rd of November, but the quality - color and sugar level - would not have been optimal.”
In the middle of the campaign, Ach Celina is satisfied with both quality and demand. “It is true that we are getting orders of 2 to 4 kg this year, compared to 4-5 kg last year. But overall, the demand remains similar to last year for this origin. We continue to import this niche product because of its quality. There is also a clear demand in France for this festive product, which is well known to the consumers. Besides, fewer and fewer importers at Rungis work this origin, which reinforces the ‘niche’ aspect of the product.”
For more information:
Cédric Celina
Ach Celina
Phone: 07 60 75 96 50
Celina.ced@gmail.com