Mango growers urged to meet export demand

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is urging local mango growers to fill in the growing demand for processed fruit products in the international market.

Nicanor Bautista, trade service officer of the DTI’s Foreign Trade Service Corps (FTSC), said small- and medium-sized mango growers should now be more aware and responsive to the intricacies and challenges posed by the global market for fruit products.

He said local mango growers should study the changing global consumption trend for fruits in positioning their mango exports.

Bautista spoke recently with some of the country’s mango growers on the advantages of exporting value-added mango produce during the second Mango Congress organized by the Davao del Sur Mango Industry Inc. in cooperation with DTI-Davao del Sur.

The annual event, which supports the government’s program of promoting countryside entrepreneurship and employment, also included presentations by representatives from the Department of Agriculture.

The Mango Congress tackled such issues as the acceptable MRLs (maximum residue limits) for mango exports.

Bautista, a former commercial attaché to Seoul, Korea, said that there is growing preference for processed fruit products in the global market especially among the more mobile youth sector in OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries like Korea.

He said the requirement for health products places significant emphasis on nutritionally-unaltered processed value-added fruit exports.

Bautista pointed out that as such, processed products like mango puree, powdered mango extract, and mango strips are at a big advantage in capturing a sizable market.

He added that processed fruit exports have a wider range of applications overseas because of the significantly increased shelf life and lesser tariff rates.

Furthermore, processed fruit exports are not subject to strict quarantine regulations unlike fresh fruits. However, processed fruit exports must meet the required packaging and labeling requirements.

Bautista urged local mango growers to organize themselves and take advantage of the benefits of economies of scale offered by an integrated export cooperative arrangement that pools together the cost of fertilizers, processing equipment, packaging and transport costs, with all stakeholders sharing in the increased margins of processed exports.

For his part, Trade Senior Undersecretary Thomas Aquino noted that "our mangoes have a unique texture and sweetness that no other country can claim." But he was quick to add though that "our exporters should not be resigned to these qualities," adding that the growers should continue to enhance the quality of the domestic mango variety so as not to lose market share.

The Philippines is the fifth largest producer of mangoes in the world with approximately 0.85 million metric tons of produce from about 130,000 hectares of agricultural land.

The country is also sixth among the top exporters of mangoes globally, sharing about nine percent of the world market valued at around $34 million in 2000.

Exports of fresh mangoes to the international market reached $31.084 million in 2004, with Japan ($18.653 million), Hong Kong ($7.384 million), South Korea ($1.772 million), and Taiwan ($1.610 million) as the top four destinations.