Chinese consumers love Kate mangoes
"The unique geographical location of Panzhihua, Sichuan, provides excellent conditions for an abunda…"The unique geographical location of Panzhihua, Sichuan, provides excellent conditions for an abundant production of late-season mangoes. The mangoes from this area are still available in the market when the supply from Guangxi, Hainan, Myanmar, Vietnam, and India has already come to an end. They complement a slow market and satisfy the demand for mangoes, which grows stronger day by day. It is for this reason that the overall surface area devoted to mango plantation in Panzhihua has seen continuous expansion in recent years. And still the market suffers from a situation where demand greatly exceeds supply." This is according to Fu Zuhong of Miyi County Fenghui Trade.
"The Panzhihua production season of various mango varieties began in April this year and continued until November. The production volume is slightly bigger than last year, but the price is not as good. The main reason for this development is poor weather in Panzhihua production areas. Furthermore, pest control measures were insufficient this year. Much fruit suffered from black spots, which of course influenced overall product quality."
"We have mango plantations under cooperative management in Panzhihua. The main mango varieties we produce there are Kate mangoes, Guifei mangoes, Jinhuang mangoes, and Jilu mangoes. Kate is by far the most popular mango variety in the opinion of Chinese consumers. The main reason for this popularity is a relatively large production volume and a relatively large fruit size. We sell our mangoes through wholesale markets and supermarkets in first and second tier cities. At the same time, we also export to Canada. In addition, we also produce loquat in Panzhihua and sell them overseas. They are the first of the season in China."
"Mangoes from Myanmar and Thailand gradually enter the Chinese market after the Panzhihua mango production season comes to an end in November. This year, we also carried out large-scale cooperation with India. Their mango production season begins in March and continues until September. We combine shipping by sea with air freight to import mangoes from India. If the import volume is relatively small we only use air freight, but when the import volume is large we ship by sea, which takes around half a month."