In two to three weeks, the season for Peruvian air-shipped mangoes of the Kent variety should be coming to an end, says Yannick Hoffmann, managing director of Fruchtimport Hoffmann GmbH at the wholesale market in Hanover. He started selling them in November. "There were slight problems in the meantime, due to the comparatively lower harvest situation." There were also isolated problems in logistics, he said.
Managing directors Yannick (left) and Helge Hoffmann.
Peruvian mangoes outperform Mexico and Brazil
"Depending on the climate and corresponding harvest situation in the respective countries, we will subsequently source mangoes from Mexico and Brazil, and in some cases also help ourselves to goods from the Ivory Coast. However, it must be emphasized that Peru produces the most beautiful and, in our opinion, the best mangos," says Hoffmann.
Mexico and Brazil also offer Kent, but they are not comparable to Peruvian production, he said. "For about six months, we offer the mangoes from Peru, after which we also offer a lot of regional produce in the summer months, with a focus on soft fruits and stone fruits. That's also when products like mangoes are no longer in too much demand."
Customers are willing to spend more for good mangoes
At the start of the season, he was still expecting things to go rather badly, but this did not prove to be the case: "The unit price was between 3.00 and 3.50 euros in the meantime, and in some cases it was even higher. Customers are therefore prepared to spend a reasonable amount for an air-shipped mango of reasonable quality. The flight mangoes are primarily marketed to weekly markets and smaller fruit and vegetable stores and less to supermarkets. The latter tend to use cheaper, shipped goods. We also have shipped goods, but our customers are more interested in the more expensive items."
Hoffmann sells the mangoes mainly in Lower Saxony. At its peak, the wholesaler could sell up to 150 boxes per week, which is roughly equivalent to 1,500-1,800 pieces. "We usually sell the mangoes at 12 pieces per box of 6 kg, which is what the majority of our customers purchase."
He assesses the mood at the wholesale market as "all right". "You have to say goodbye to the pandemic period, from which we as well as many colleagues benefited, sales-wise. Currently, everything is simply expensive, which is why many customers pay more attention to their budgets and now and then do without certain products. We are nevertheless satisfied, although of course I can only speak for our company," says Hoffmann.
"On the one hand, we sold more during Corona, but on the other hand we were able to generate more customers. Fortunately, however, we also didn't specialize in gastronomy, because otherwise the outcome could have been quite different."
Further Information:
Yannick Hoffmann
Fruchtimport Hoffmann GmbH
Am Tönniesberg 16-18
Großmarkt Stand 95 – 97
30453 Hannover, Germany
Tel.: +49 511 2613738
[email protected]
fruchtimporthoffmann.de