With export growth to Asia limited by logistical issues, the Peruvian mango industry is hoping for a big future south of the border in Chile. 

At last week's Produce Marketing Association (PMA) Fruittrade Latin America, Peruvian Mango Exporters' Association (APEM) general manager Juan Carlos Rivera told www.freshfruitportal.com 'consolidating' the Chilean market was a key objective of his trip.

"Just five years ago we were exporting 10 containers throughout the whole season, and last campaign we exceeded 100. So there is clear growth in the fruit's exports and we believe that this is because the Chilean consumer is learning how to eat mangoes," Rivera said.

"Our biggest single market is the U.S., where we send roughly a third of our fresh mango exports. Europe is also a really important market. In total, the whole European bloc represents about 60%.

"The other 10% is growing, and within this growth one of the most important markets is Chile, and another is Japan, both of which are relatively new markets for us and both are seeing growth," he said.

Rivera said Peru had been exporting mangoes to Japan since 2011 and so consumers there knew Peruvian mangoes quite well, but the distance between the countries remained a major challenge for exporters.

"We have to send mangoes via airfreight and that limits our growth potential somewhat," he said.

"For the moment we're not promoting consumption because, to be honest, if we created a massive demand we probably wouldn't be able to supply it due to the logistical issues we have at the moment. The logistical situation with Japan is very complicated," he said.

"We're not the ones who have caused this problem - it's the ships which are travelling at lower speeds, and that is hindering our access to intercontinental markets like China, which is a country that consumes a huge amount of mango and whose borders are fully open to us. But sadly we can't get there how we would like to - airfreight is very expensive and doesn't hold a lot of volume."

Relatively speaking, Chile is an extremely accessible market and Rivera said he had some specific ideas about how to give demand a lift.

"Eventually, if this growth trend continues, and we hope it does, what we would like to do is launch an educational campaign for consumers so they learn how to know when the fruit is correctly ripened, how to cut it, and the various ways of consuming it," he said.

"Not only can you eat the fruit fresh, but you can also use it as an ingredient in cooking.

"People don't recognize when the mango is ready to eat, and this is something very important because if you don't have a good experience with this and you pick an unripe mango again, you're going to have the same bad experience. This is one of our priorities. This is how we're going to consolidate this market - the missing piece in the puzzle, he said.

With regards to PMA Fruittrade Latin America, the APEM general manager noted how it had been 'a well organized event with great attendance."

"I believe that this is an event you have to attend if you are interested in finding new fruit buyers."

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