This year, Egyptian mango and guava exporters are expected to boost their presence in the EU market, according to EastFruit. The data for the first nine months of 2023 show that the EU imported more Egyptian mango and guava than in the whole of 2022, and the volume of shipments from Egypt in this direction will have at least tripled since 2018.
From January to September 2023, nearly 1,500 tons of mango and guava were imported from Egypt to the EU. This is already a record-breaking amount, as the figure for 2022 was just over 1,300 tons. Considering that the peak export season for this product lasts until the end of November, the final outcome for this year will be even more impressive.
Interestingly, Spain is still the leader in importing Egyptian mango and guava in 2023, even though it hardly imported any of this product before. This year, the volume of supplies from Egypt to the Spanish market has already reached about 300 tons. Other key EU importers include Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Greece, which together with Spain account for about 94% of the EU’s imports of mango and guava from Egypt in January-September 2023.
“The bulk of exports in this category from Egypt consists of fresh mango, which has a season that starts in summer and ends in late autumn or early winter. Fresh guava is exported in much smaller quantities, generating 5-7 times less revenue for Egypt annually than mango exports. However, the Egyptian guava export season is longer: it starts at the end of summer and lasts throughout the autumn and winter, ending in the spring of the following year. The country also exports dried mango and guava, but the annual exports of these sub-categories to all markets do not exceed $1 million,” comments Yevhen Kuzin, Fruit & Vegetable Market Analyst at EastFruit.
The EU countries are one of the largest markets for mango and guava in the world. In 2021, they imported 409 thousand tons of these products from countries outside the EU, but then the figure dropped slightly to 390 thousand tons due to food inflation and rising logistics costs. This year, imports have resumed their growth, and the volume for January-September (308 thousand tons) has already surpassed the previous year’s result for the same period.
The most attractive markets for mango and guava in the EU are the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, France, Portugal, and Germany. It is worth noting that the Netherlands mainly re-exports mangoes and guavas to other EU countries: in 2022, with imports of 280 thousand tons, their exports amounted to 220 thousand tons. Other EU representatives also have a fairly high share of re-export, but each market has its own specifics.
For instance, Spain is a large producer of mangoes in Europe and imports them both to expand its own export and for domestic consumption. Belgium, like the Netherlands, is mainly a re-exporter, France imports mangoes and guavas mainly from the Netherlands and Spain, and Portugal focuses on deliveries from Spain, Brazil, and the Netherlands. Portugal also has one of the highest per capita consumption rates of mangoes: it is two and a half times as high as, for example, in Germany. Germany, by the way, prefers to import mangoes and guavas indirectly, through the Netherlands or Spain.
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Brazil and Peru are the main suppliers of mango and guava to the EU market, accounting for up to 75% of the total imports every year. Other sizable exporters are located in Sub-Saharan Africa (Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali, etc.), North America and the Caribbean (Dominican Republic, USA, Mexico, etc.), as well as various regions of Asia (Israel, Pakistan, India, etc.). Egypt has not yet become a major player in the EU market, but in 2022, it exported more mango and guava than, for example, India, Kenya, or Bangladesh.
“Egypt has a low presence in the EU mango market, as local exporters still favor working with buyers from Russia and the Middle East. However, their shipments to the EU are increasing, and in 2023 they achieved a significant breakthrough with a record volume of exports. A promising opportunity for Egyptian suppliers, who aim for the developed markets, could be the local varieties of mango, which are hardly exported from Egypt and are unfamiliar outside its borders. They have a distinctive sweet taste and aroma, which could be a novelty for the EU consumers. However, these varieties of mango are not suitable for long-term storage and transportation, so another big challenge for Egypt will be to arrange the logistics of flying these mangoes by plane,” summarizes Yevhen Kuzin.
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