“Despite the market, demand has been consistently increasing and offering a much wider range of countries but the United States still represents the main destination for our best mangoes. Earlier this month we shipped Ataulfo mangoes to Los Angeles. It was the first shipment of the season among all exporters” says Yamil Farah, General Manager of Rinursa. The Ecuadorian proximity to the United States makes the logistics easier than other Southern countries since the transit times are shorter, which is crucial for climacteric products.
Ecuadoran shipping windows officially starts during the second half of September till first half of December, depending on the climate conditions. Mango harvest usually depends on how early the rainy season starts, which usually takes place from December to June. “At Rinursa, since the last two seasons we aimed efforts to be the first to select and distribute top quality fruit – with correct firmness and ripeness capable to reach destination in optimum conditions”, completed Yamil. A similar season as 2017 is expected with no big jumps on production which will hopefully lead to steady returns for the producers.
The industry still suffers from a general lack of service availability to position reefer goods at other destinations. “Each year optimal connections are fewer and the space availability on board of dedicated services is really limited and don´t cover the full potential of the industry. Based on this, it has been now a couple of years that we have decided to work with Kuehne + Nagel. They ship a big portion of our program, not only due to their dedicated reefer solutions, but also because of the offering of creative solutions to reach the different markets according to our needs” mentions Yamil.
“We have a fresh chain dedicated network worldwide, which is particularly strong in South and Central America, allowing us to attend our customer needs with local expertise and global coverage” says Jorge Briones, Reefer Manager of Kuehne + Nagel in Ecuador and Peru. “Working with available standard services makes no difference in today’s market. Our task is to find niche services, combine different shipping lines, boost unusual service connections and make sure all cargo arrives as needed. Finding the fastest transit time is as important as reaching the destination prior the weekend sales” continues Jorge.
Mango producers and service providers are clear when saying that the future of this industry is to present to the final end customer an attractive, impeccable and fresh product which allows staying ahead of competition. Not only to have higher returns, but also to offer a much more attractive product. Many researchers are looking toward developing tastier and sweeter varieties of mangoes and some producers in Ecuador are investing in this niche variety, known as Ataulfo or “Honey Mango”. This is an early variety quite diversified amongst Guayaquil and difficult to find in other countries. Best qualities reach 18 °Brix (while other varieties reach 12 °Brix), which makes it a highly demanded variety for its very sweet taste.
For more information:
Yamil Farah - General Manager
SOCIEDAD AGRICOLA RINUR S.A.
RINURSA
T: +593 99 967 0450
yamfarah@gmail.com
Jorge Briones - Reefer Manager (Ecuador & Peru)
Kuehne + Nagel
T: +593 99 744 1365
jorge.briones@kuehne-nagel.com