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Food

Price of Indian mangoes biggest barrier

By: Santosh :+: Under: Food
On: ⋅ June 12, 2008 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment
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We love talking about two desi things in the US, macacas and mangoes.

While the former gets plenty of face time, the latter has been conspicuously absent since Presidentji deemed that Indian mangoes were ok to be imported into the glorious nation of Amrika. In the meanwhile, in the glorious nation of India, matches made in heaven were obliterated on terra firma thanks to mangoes. Yet, the much anticipated invasion of hapooses on American soil never materialized.

The reason? Cost. [MSN]

India has launched a promotional drive to make its mangoes popular in the massive market for the fruit in the US, but high prices are impeding the effort started last year after the lifting of an 18-year import ban.

Among efforts to make the fruit more popular in the US, mango tasting festivals.

A mango festival was held at the Indian consulate in New York this week, which was attended by a large number of Indian American community leaders, local traders and mango exporters from India.

Anyone know how we can get invited to one?

The factors that drive up the cost include a rigorous testing process …

After the agreement to lift the import ban was signed between APEDA and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), every consignment of mangoes has to undergo irradiation and a rigorous testing process before being exported. This is being done in the presence of USDA at the only testing centre in Maharashtra, the cost of which is borne by the mango producers.

and a short shelf life …..

Costs go up further because the shelf life of Indian mangos being about a fortnight, all the consignments are sent by air.

resulting in each mango costing as much as $3.

As a result, a carton of a dozen mangoes costs around $35, making it out of reach of the common American. The same carton of mangos coming from Mexico, which accounts for 60 percent exports of the fruit to the US, or grown locally in California costs about $10.

Still there’s good news on the horizon for mango aficionados.

With more testing plants coming up in India in the next few years and the USDA hinting at easing import restrictions, Tripathy hoped that the volume of mangoes exported to the US would jump manifold after a couple of years, possibly bringing down the price to $15-$20 a carton.

Of course, by then $600 a barrel gas would drive up the prices again but that’s besides the point.

Meanwhile, Indian mangoes are being marketed to an exclusive market.

So anyone here buy any Indian mangoes in the local Indian grocery store? Do they really cost $3 each?

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