The mango market didn't progress satisfactorily last month. The volume was too high and demand low, as usual for this time of year. "There was enormous supply from various countries, like Ivory Coast, Brazil, Venezuela and Costa Rica. The market was flooded with mangoes. At one point, 300 containers arrived in a single week, while demand is generally very low in summer," says Eryvan Pires of Fruitmarket.
He says the mood is a lot better this week. "The market is quite a bit emptier, and customers are starting to ask for mangoes again. The supply from West Africa has nearly run out. Senegal is still supplying small numbers. Not much is coming in from Brazil and Central America anymore either."
Last year also bad
He notes that June, July and August are nearly always lacklustre months for exotics. "Last year around this time, it was also bad. Then Ivory Coast came with a lot of mangoes." Eryvan says it's also related to the fact that the communication about volumes isn't very clear in some countries. "Countries like Brazil and Peru have a good source of information on what's being shipped in mangoes every week. But that's not the case for all supplies, like countries in West Africa. There needs to be more clarity, so that the supply/demand ratio will be better, and we won't be stuck with such enormous volumes. The lack of information causes the entire sector to suffer losses."
