Mango faces summer trouble: Poor quality, higher prices pinch consumers

The untimely thunderstorms and showers over the past couple of weeks have adversely affected mango plantations.

"This year the mango season has been much delayed and weak in terms of both quantity and quality. As a result, on one hand the prices continue to rule firm and on the other the taste is below expectation. This is largely attributable to climate change and its vagaries," said Vipul Mittal, National Category Head - F&V, bigbasket, an e-grocery platform.

Mittal also said that the value share of mangoes in the company's fruits and vegetables business too has dipped this year.

Sales down

Mumbai receives a major chunk of its alphonso mangoes from Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, and Raigad in Maharashtra.  The alphonso variety is also grown in Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Other varieties equally in demand in Mumbai are pirie, badami, kesar, lalbag, and totapuri varieties.

A local vendor who usually gets mangoes from his farm in Ratnagiri for selling in Mumbai said, "This year, sales of mango is down compared to the past years. Usually, we get return of Rs 3 lakh on investments of Rs 1 lakh. But this time we are getting return of only Rs 1.5 lakh."

While customers are hoping for the prices to fall as the supply increases, others, including traders, are of the view this is a remote possibility as the mango is a seasonal fruit and most people would want to enjoy it before the season ends.

Traditionally, in April the supply is less compared to the demand but a typical middle-class consumer waits for the prices to come down.

Middle class is defined as people spending between Rs 34 and Rs 170 per day, per person, or Rs 170 to Rs 850 per day per family.

The mango season started with the Alphonso variety trading at Rs 1,000 a dozen in Crowford Market of Mumbai, but it immediately jumped to Rs 1,200 a dozen within few days in the wholesale market.

Fuel costs

"Generally, by now mango prices hit the bottom, but this time good quality mango prices have just come down marginally (Rs 400-450 a dozen). Transport rates are also high because of high petrol rates which is expected to keep mango prices firm through out the season," said a local vendor.

The petrol price in India's financial capital Mumbai touched Rs 84.99 a litre on May 23.

Wholesale vendors said the supply of mangoes is expected remain scarce, which will keep the prices elevated during the season. This will further make it difficult for Indian exporters to meet growing export demand of mangoes globally.

Going by the data on Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda), India’s total exports stood at 52,761 tonnes (worth Rs 443.66 crore) in FY17 compared to 36,779 tonnes (worth Rs 320.64 crore) exported a year earlier.

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