After a few quiet summer months, the season for pineapples is back again. Milani Fairtrade GmbH, headquartered in Zurich, is also preparing for this; during the peak season from October to April, demand is twice as high as during the rest of the year . Bijean Milani, founder and CEO of Milani Fairtrade, is organising every link in the value chain from cultivation in Ghana to marketing. "Our customers really appreciate our product and we deliver our goods regularly and year-round." Milani Fairtrade supplies supermarkets, importers and wholesalers in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg and France.
Quality in the trend
"Our customers and our consumers are becoming more and more demanding in terms of quality and we are adapting to that. Accordingly we can no longer compare our current product with that of 5 years ago." This is a development that can be felt not only on the Ghanaian plantations but also on larger farms in Costa Rica. He also sees growing demand for crownless pineapples: "Our fruit weighs 1.5 to 2 kg; still a bit too light for the crownless, but we are slowly converting our cultivation to bigger fruits, to better serve the ever-growing convenience sector." In addition to this, Milani Fairtrade GmbH markets pineapples through its own Delighana brand, which also has a premium segment.
Delighana Premium.
Fairtrade in the range - even without a certificate
One aspect which is lacking in importance, much to the concern of the managing director, is Fairtrade. Milani: "Our company had been certified for Fairtrade ten years ago, and after a few years of low demand, we were de-certified again a few weeks ago. Consumers are looking for 'organic' rather than Fairtrade, so it was hard to justify the higher costs owing to our certification. This is probably due to a lack of awareness of the principles of Fairtrade farming, because supermarkets only notice they are buying less and so the products are taken out of the assortment." However, this does not mean that the standards of Fairtrade production have been abandoned at Milani. "We want to continue to support our workforce and, of course, abide by the regulations in the country of production. If you do not invest in your employees, you will not get a good workforce anymore. And you will not get good fruit without a good workforce." He also sees the geopolitical importance of Fairtrade and points to the never ending flow of refugees from Africa, but he regrets the lack of interest. "If there are serious prospects, we can be certified again at any time!"
School in Adabra, financed by Fairtrade
Air and sea freight
For Bijean, air freight and ocean freight are two distinct markets with their own logistical challenges. The demand for air shipped goods is slightly increasing. "Air-shipped pineapples are harvested later and therefore are more mature, with only four to five days between the harvest and the sale." But the fruits that come to Europe from dedicated Ghanaian refrigerated vessels are also different from Central American goods: "Our transit time is a good week shorter than that of Costa Rica at 10 to 12 days, so our fruits are fresher and can be kept longer." In addition to this, the company has a well-rehearsed cycle of consigned batches: "We have two shipments a week, so we can harvest the fruits daily and can wait for the right level of maturity."
Harvester at work
The fruits are delivered by ship from Ghana either via Northern Europe, to the ports in Portsmouth or Antwerp, or via Southern Europe, to Port-Vendres in the south of France or Porto Vado in Liguria. The aircraft fly direct to the various countries in Europe. "We offer three different product by air freight: the MD2, the Smooth Cayenne and the Sugar Loaf, which is best suited for ocean freight."
Modernization and optimization of cultivation
"Ghana has gone through a period of consolidation some years ago. We want to increase our yields, of course, but quality is much more important to us." In recent years, we have improved the quality of the Delighana Pineapple through research and better cultivation techniques and are now able to slowly increase the acreage." Currently, Milani delivers some 6,000 tons annually to Europe. Its target for 2022 is 12,000 tons.
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Plantations of Milani Fairtrade GmbH
But that would not be mass production, the manager explains: "We are more manufacturers than an industry: We want to supply customers who are passionate about our products, we are looking for customers who really care about our fruits and are not just looking for a prodcut that is a few cents cheaper than other Central American products."
25th anniversary
The plantation of Milani Fairtrade in Ghana will celebrate its 25th anniversary in December. The company was founded in 1993 by Bijean Milani and he appreciates his time with his company. "To produce pineapples of such a quality requires so very much time and experience." Furthermore, this October, the company will start to expand its acreage by another 1,000 hectares in eastern Ghana. "There, the climatic conditions and soil conditions are different than at our current location, so we want to spread the risk of climate change that is bound to have an effect. We know there will be an impact of some sort, just not what it will look like. We want to counteract this."
This clip gives a bird's-eye view of Milani Fairtrade's plantations
In addition to pineapples, Milani would like to grow mangos and papayas on the new plantation, to further diversify the range. Even a large-caliber, violet passion fruit variety is already in its test phase.
Bijean Milani concludes: "What makes our company so special is that the entire value chain is under one roof - everything from production to marketing and financing is managed from Zurich, and our customers truly appreciate this." When it comes to marketing, Milani has advantages and disadvantages: "We are less flexible in terms of pricing, and if an independent importer sells the goods at too low a price, he will still take his margin and the losses will go to the production site. We can not do that, of course. So on the one hand we are less flexible than the competition, on the other hand we are stronger because we do not always have to bow to every market trend, which ultimately is also in the interests of the consumer."
For more information:
Bijean Milani
Milani Fairtrade GmbH
Dufourstrasse 131
CH-8008 Zürich
Schweiz
Tel: +41 44 500 83 70
Mail: bijean@milani-fairtrade.ch
Web: www.milani-fairtrade.ch/