Last season, 34 containers of South African lychees arrived at the US container terminal at Port Newark. Another 60,000 boxes arrived by air to Newark and New Orleans. This is an increase of over 300% in exports of South African lychees to the US y-o-y.
Ben Halliday, technical director of Agrilink, a fruit and vegetable exporter specializing in air freight: “South African farmers are known for their determination and for providing high quality products. Lychee is still a delicate product and the time from harvest to the final consumer is longer than when shipped to Europe.”
Exports used air transport for 100% until 2020, when COVID forces them to use sea transport. They are now starting air freight to supply customers as soon as possible, until the first container ship arrives.
In the United States, South Africa has no other notable competitors during the local season and acts as a counter-season supplier to Mexico’s supply.
Source: nationworldnews.com