SOURCE: Bruna Garcia Fonseca, ANBA
Virtually no fruit is being flown off from Brazil right now. Since volumes are not enough to fill up a cargo plane, most of the product used to ship in the cargo compartment in regular flights, which are grounded amid the worldwide quarantine. Some 10% of all exported fruit used to travel by air, especially papaya, fig and guava, and to a smaller extent and mango.
So said Brazilian Fruit and Fruit Product Exporters Association (Abrafrutas) technical and projects manager Jorge de Souza regarding exports amid the pandemic.
According to Souza, the demand is still in place, and marine shipping remains close to normal. Fruit such as lime, grape, mango and melon are still going out in ships, with transit times a bit longer than usual.
“Average demand generally remained unchanged in all destinations. The thing that has changed is the transit, the logistics, which suffered a bit due to shipping lane issues. The average trip to the Middle East, which used to take about 28 days, is taking 35 to 38 days, which is a bit worrisome in terms of product quality,” he said.
Souza said places like Dubai, for instance, are hubs from where product gets distributed by land to neighboring countries. “We’ll ship the fruit to Dubai by sea, and land travel to other countries is taking longer too, because there’s the whole question of sanitization and worker care. In the broad sense, however, and compared with other sectors of the economy, I would say the fruit industry has been affected at a very minor level,” he said.
Numbers
Q1 2020 saw over 234,000 tons of fruit exported from Brazil, down 2% year-over-year. There was a significant hike in exports of some fruit, like avocado (126%), apple (56%) and lime (46%).
Exports fetched USD 183 million overall, down 8% year-on-year. Out of the top-selling fruit, went down for oranges (58%), grapes (44%), mango (23%) and melon (8%) as per Abrafrutas numbers.
“There has been a minor drop in volume and value, but it was due to market, competition and weather reasons – consumption goes down a bit the colder it gets. In the second half we were able to assess the impact better. The demand is still there. People want to go on eating fruit, because there’s the aspect of health, of vitamin, which is really important right now,” he said.
Souza that although the novel coronavirus hasn’t been that serious of an issue for the fruit industry, there’s great concern over the health of farm workers.
“The fruit must get picked so it can get exported. If the situation gets really serious [with contagion] in the farms, then we might have a problem supplying the world, and that includes the Arab countries. We are taking great care at farms, with transportation being handled by sanitized, disinfected buses at 50% capacity. Out in the field we’re keeping people distanced and observing hygiene protocols. We are taking every step to keep it from happening,” he said
Arab countries
Abrafrutas would like to step up its exports to Arab countries, which currently account for only 1% of total exports. By early 2022, Souza intends to get that up to 5% – a five-fold increment from current volumes. “When you don’t export much at all to a given region, your first growth is usually a bit quicker, especially for products that Brazil is very competent with,” he said. The best-selling fruit to Arab countries are melon, seedless watermelon, and table grapes. In smaller volumes, papaya, lime, mango and apple.
“We find it key to sell more product to the Arab world, it’s a strategic move for the industry. These are populous countries, some of with have an even higher per capita income than Brazil, and shoppers there value good food, the nuances of flavor. In Arab cuisine everything is very tasty, fresh and clean, and fruit is a perfect fit for this style of eating,” he said.