Ecuador expects to export 5,700 boxes of mango by boat to China on the first week of October; a country where, after thirteen years of negotiations, 20,000 boxes of this fruit first arrived in 2016 by air.
Yamil Farah, the president of the Mango Ecuador Foundation, said the industry was looking to expand its offer in China, a country where the market for this product is still small and exports are minimal.
Ecuador exported 13.1 million boxes of mango to the world in 2017 and plans to export 14 million boxes this year, achieving an average annual growth of 14%. Its main market is the USA, where it places around 90% of its exports.
In order to grow in China, exporters need to decrease costs, as air shipments cause the fruit to cost up to $20 per box. This, due to the limitations of exporting by sea.
Farah said that the fruit ripening process takes five weeks (35 days), the same amount of time a trip by sea to China to takes. By plane it only takes three days.
"The mango's shelf life lasts about five weeks after harvesting, if handled properly," Farah said, noting that the shipment they will send in October will be a test to see how much the fruit's life increases by applying new techniques.
These techniques are among the novelties of the Seventh International Mango Congress, which was held on August 30 and 31 in Guayaquil, and was attended by nearly 400 people, more than 50% of whom were foreigners.
Source: eluniverso.com