Summer is here and the sale of the king of fruits mango is at peaks. For the first time ever, mango traders from Maharashtra dispatched 4,023 mango cartels to Europe by ship.
So far the air route was the preferred one for exports.
“However, the airfares have soared with the increase in aviation fuel prices. Competition from Pakistan, Kenya, Brazil, Peru, and South Africa adds to our worries. The sea route is cost-effective,” DNA India quoted Pritesh Shejwal, a mango trader who dispatched the first cartel of mangoes to London as saying on Tuesday from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT).
The shipment carried 1,449 Badami mango cartels and 2,574 Kesar mango cartels to Europe. A single cartel contains 12 pieces of mangoes.
“The per kg cost by air is Rs 135 per kg while for shipment it is as low as Rs 17 per kg. This is the only trial shipment we are sending this season. If the response is good, more traders will export the mangoes by the sea route,” explained Sanjay Pansare, Mango trader at APMC, Vashi to DNA India.
Shejwal said that this is the normal shipping but the controlled atmosphere container transport.
“The shipment will reach after three weeks however the Government has developed facilities that will help preserve the mango quality for a longer time. The air and atmosphere can be controlled. Hence, the mangoes don’t perish that easily. We have to give the hot water treatment to mangoes, then clean it and contain in the controlled atmosphere as per the set regulations,” explained the trader.
He said that they have been contemplating the idea of exporting the mangoes by sea route for a long time. Most of the consumers in London are Indians.
However, there are locals who also buy the mangoes, explained Shejwal.
