“High demand for flight papayas, marketing gap for mangosteen”

Lorenz Hartmann de Barros from HLB Tropical Food GmbH:

Demand for Brazilian papayas traditionally tends to rise in late summer. "In this country, our papayas have primarily established themselves in the wholesale markets, although they can also be found in some food retail outlets. However, we have the strongest presence in the British market, with listings at several leading food retail chains. We have the advantage that Brazilian fruit is available all year round. Accordingly, we are now seeing higher demand for our air freight because Canarian sea freight is only available seasonally and is currently only available in limited quantities," reports Lorenz Hartmann de Barros from HLB Tropical Food GmbH. The Kelsterbach-based company is dedicated to the procurement and marketing of the two varieties, Formosa and Samba, and cooperates exclusively with selected producers in Brazil.

The growers in the country of origin are currently in the peak season, the exotic fruit specialist continues. "Not only are the current harvest volumes particularly large, but they are also predominantly large and generally show good resistance and eating quality. In this respect, September and October are the best months for promotional campaigns in food retail." The situation was different two to three months ago, recalls Hartmann de Barros. "It was extremely cold at the time, so the fruit virtually went dormant. This meant that it grew but did not reach the right degree of ripeness. This led to a higher proportion of large sizes (5/6) instead of the desired sizes 8/9 and an overall shortage of supply."

Marketing gap for mangosteen
In addition to papayas, mangosteen is now also one of the company's established exotic fruits and top sellers. However, Hartmann de Barros explains that a gap in marketing has emerged due to a lack of supply from the important sourcing countries. "Normally, we source the fruit alternately from Colombia and Indonesia throughout the year. In the latter country of origin, however, excessive rainfall has severely affected cultivation, and in Colombia, the season ended in early August due to the cold weather, which is relatively early. We were still able to source small quantities from Indonesia, but decided against it due to poor quality. Due to a lack of certifications and corresponding residue analysis, it is not an option to source this product segment from alternative countries of origin at short notice. As a result, there will now be a gap in marketing until November, which has not been the case in the past four years."

Expansion of the Asian product range
Not only papayas and mangosteens, but also other exotic fruits such as dragon fruit (red-red), peeled jackfruit, and greenskin avocados are tending to gain in importance. "We can offer a significant part of our product range in market-relevant quantities throughout the year. However, we also deal in seasonal items such as Atemoya, a cross between cherimoya and sugar apple, which we source from Brazil until October. Although we have close ties to Brazil and South America due to our history, we have set ourselves the goal of further expanding our Asian product range in the coming years so that we can also offer our customers mixed pallets. We are seeing growing demand for this service and want to exploit this potential accordingly," he concludes.

Visit the company at Fruit Attraction: 12F06

Source: FreshPlaza

For more information:
Lorenz Hartmann de Barros
HLB Tropical Food GmbH
Tel: (+49) 6107 987810
Europe@hlbtropical.com
www.hlbtropical.com