Fruit and vegetable farming in La Réunion is very much orientated towards their domestic market : fruit production covers almost 80% of demand and vegetables 70%.
Export therefore represents a small part of the agricultural economy. Farmers grouped under co-operatives export about 1,800 tons of fruit out of the 40,800 tons produced annually. Vegetable exports are very small with hardly 20 tons exported per year out of the 54,500 tons produced.
The three main exporters are cooperatives that sell mangoes, pineapples, lychees and passion fruit mainly at the end of the year to wholesalers in Rungis.
Production of Victoria pineapples reaches over 5,000 tons per year and is the most exported fruit in the sector. Export of other fruits is less stable as it depends upon the structure (La Reunion produces about 2,700 tons of lychees and 1,900 tons of mangos depending on the year).
