1.

Marketing objectives
2. Market segmentation and positioning
3. Market research
4. Characteristics of product line
5. Export pricing
6. Distribution channels
7. Promotional strategies

Marketing objectives:

Mission:

To become a world class exporting company of mangos considering a Total Quality concept.

Vision:

To become a leader on the export industry of mangos considering a Total Quality concept in every
area that the company is involved, taking into account the overall well being and satisfaction of our
employees, suppliers, partners, and customers.

Market Research

MANGO
1. Background Information:
Pakistan is blessed with vast agricultural resources on account of its fertile land,
well irrigated plains, extremes of weather, and centuries old tradition of farming. It is
because of its central importance in the economy that the Government has identified
agriculture as one of the four major drivers of growth.

Pakistan annually produces about 12.0 million tons of fruits and vegetables. Potato and
onion are leading among vegetables and condiments.
Pakistan has unique but unsophisticated network of up to six or seven intermediaries
between the primary source (producer and growers) and the end user. Because of the
presence of so many layers and the lack of adequate marketing infrastructure facilities,
30 to 40% of the perishable produce gets spoiled before reaching the ultimate
consumer.
Mango is one of the tropical fruits, which has experienced tremendous development in
recent years. One of the main reasons is shift from air to sea freight with bulk deliveries
at competitive prices. Pakistan is the 5th largest producer and the 3rd largest exporter of
mango in the world. Its soil and climatic conditions enable production and market
supplies of good quality fresh mango over a period of about 5 to 6 months. Pakistani
mangoes therefore enjoy a prominent position in the international market.
2. Mango Production in Pakistan
Mango (Mangifera indica), commonly called as ‘king of fruits’, is native to Southern Asia,
especially Burma and Eastern India. Mango is considered as the fruit of excellence and
thus has a prominent position among the commercial fruits grown in Pakistan.
Production of mangoes in Pakistan has exhibited an overall increasing trend over the
years as is evident from the data presented in Table 1:

Table 1: Production of Mangoes in Pakistan

Year Production (000 tons)
1999/00 937.7
2000/01 989.8
2001/02 1037.1
2002/03 1034.6
2003/04 1056.0
2005/06 (Provisional)* 1200.0
Source: Fruit, Vegetables and Condiments Statistics of Pakistan, 2003/04
Ministry of Food, Agriculture & Livestock, Islamabad.
* Based on key informants (farmers & traders) opinion survey
Punjab and Sindh are main mango producing provinces. Province-wise production is
presented in Table 2:
Table 2: Province-wise Production of Mangoes in Pakistan, 2003/4
Province Production (Tons) Percent
Punjab 707,799 67.0
Sindh 338,415 32.1
Balochistan 6,625 0.6
NWFP 3,148 0.3
Source: Fruit, Vegetables and Condiments Statistics of Pakistan, 2003/04
Ministry of Food, Agriculture & Livestock, Islamabad.
Table 2 shows that Punjab leads with 67.0% share in mango production in the country
followed by Singh with 32.1%, Balochistan 0.6% and NWFP 0.3%.
3. Harvest Season
Pakistan produces quite a few mango varieties. They differ in harvesting time and also
in their physiological characteristics especially shape, size, colour, sugar level, acidity
etc.
Only a few varieties offer volumes and are thus important from export point of view. The
indicative harvest periods for selected varieties are given in Table 3:
Mango Marketing Strategy Page 11 of 40
Table 3: Mango Maturity Days/Indicative Harvest Periods
Variety Day of full
Bloom
Earliest date for
harvest
Days to
harvest
Sindhri Mid-February Early June 110
Langra Mid-February Early June 110
Doshehri Mid-January Late May 118
Bombay Green Mid-January Mid May 113
Chaunsa Early February Late June 150
Kali Seroli Early February Mid June 135
Bagan pali Mid February Early July 130
Swarnarika Mid March Mid July 122
Neelum Mid February Early September 201
Sindhri flowers in three stages mid-January, early February and late February.
Accordingly it matures in 3 stages, from early June to late June. Pakistan mango
harvest season overlaps with many other countries. The challenge is to offer quality fruit
at competitive prices before making inroad and for customers to accept them. Moreover,
with a mango glut in Pakistan from June-July, to stabilize prices means exporting more
volume.
The harvest calendar of mangoes for main producing countries around the
World is portrayed in Table 4:
Source: Courtesy Trade & Transport Facilitation Project, UNCTAD
Pakistan can extend its mango season as some new varieties of mangoes can ripen as
early as mid-April and late by October. Pakistan could have a better marketing position
on the international market if adequate volumes could be supplied over extended
periods.
There are thousands of varieties of mango grown in the world. The leading varieties
grown in various countries are listed in Table 5.
Table 5: Leading Mango Varieties in the World
Countries Varieties
Pakistan Sindhri & Chaunsa
India Alphonso
Mexico Tommy Atkins
Mali Amelie
Kenya Carabao
Philippines Pico
West Indies Julie
South Africa Kent
Source: Courtesy Trade & Transport Facilitation Project, UNCTAD
Sindhri like many mango varieties suffers from anthracnose, a fungal disease that
produces dark sunken spots on fruit, stems, and leaves and stem end root. Both spoil
its cosmetic appeal. Similarly Chaunsa has a problem of soft nose.
4. Marketing System
Marketing of mangoes is in private hands. The role of public sector is confined to
creating an enabling environment which may include provision of physical infrastructure,
regulatory measures, market intelligence and market promotion. The flow of mangoes
for export and domestic marketing is illustrated thru diagram 1:
FLOW CHART – MANGO
Export Marketing
Export Marketing
Domestic Marketing Major Flow ……….. Minor Flow
Diagram 1: Mango Flow Chart (Export/Domestic Marketing)
Picking
Sorting
Transport
Processing
Plant
Washing
Waxing
Grading
Packing
Cooling/
Storage
Transport
Shipment by
Sea/Air
Importer/
Wholesaler Retailer
Orchard
Picking
Grading
Packing
Transport
Wholesaler Exporter
Regrading
Repacking
Cooling/
Storage
Transport
Shipment by
Sea/Air
Importer/
Wholesaler Retailer Consumer
Picking
Grading
Packing
Transport
Wholesaler Retailer

The pre-harvest contractor and commission agent play a pivotal role in mango trade in
Pakistan. The latter advances money direct as well as thru the contractors to farmers.
By doing so he obliges them to sell produce thru him. He is therefore considered as
‘king pin’ in the trade. While this facilitates the trade, it is counterproductive for linking
farmers directly with the exporters and promoting grow for export especially compliance
to emerging international trade requirements on sanitary & phyto-sanitary measures.
5. Mango Export
Mango is the 4th most rapidly growing trade after taro, single strength citrus juice and
cassava tapioca. The world trade in mangoes including re-exports grew almost three
times during the past decade. Current mango trade is estimated around 650,000 tons
per annum. The prominent mango exporting counties include Mexico, Brazil, Pakistan,
India, Philippines, Ecuador, Peru, South Africa & Thailand. Similarly, the prominent
mango importing countries include UAE, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, USA, UK,
Netherlands, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan.
Mango is the leading exportable fruit from Pakistan after citrus. The country produces
over one million tons of mangoes of which about 60 to 70 thousand tons are being
exported. Export statistics for the past 5 years are contained in Table 6:
Table 6: Export of Mango during the past 5 Years (1999/00-2003/04)
Source: Federal Bureau of Statistics, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad.
Exports during the past 5 years vary from 5% to 7% of the total production of mangoes
in Pakistan.
Gulf and Saudi Arabia are traditional import markets and thus consume the major
volume. England is the main market in Europe. Germany, France, Norway, Denmark,
Switzerland, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong are other important markets. Peoples
Republic of China and Iran are likely to emerge as future prominent markets.
Year Export Volume (000 tons) Export value (000 US$)
1999/00 47.602 11,576
2000/01 53.444 17,005
2001/02 47.541 14,036
2002/03 58.844 17,626
2003/04 77.468 23,426

The regional distribution of mango exports is appended below:

Middle East/Gulf Far East Europe Others
60,761 tons 532 tons 11,440 tons 4,735 tons
(78.4%) (0.7%) (14.8%) (6.1%)
Information on country-wise mango exports is contained in Annex 1. Top mango
importing countries of the world and import volumes are contained in Annex 2.
The projected export targets for the next 5 years are presented in Table 7:
Table 7: Projected Mango Exports from Pakistan
The export projections are based on the following assumptions:
Compliance to sanitary & phyto-sanitary measures thru GAP
Provision of physical infrastructure to address quarantine issues, for instance, CA
storage, vapour heat treatment, hot eater dip and irradiation facilities
Improved shelf life thru better varieties, cultural practices and infrastructure (CA
storage, Irradiation)
Improved logistics (air & sea)
Improved market access thru FTAs, PTAs, MOUs etc.
Market promotion (delegations, expositions, media)
6. Export Market Trend
The trend in marketing agricultural produce is toward fewer and larger processors and
handlers. Farmers, too, are becoming fewer and larger, but their size and power in the
market place remain small in comparison with processor/handlers. Packing house
facilities are operating in many fruit and vegetable markets around the world. Growers
associations or cooperatives negotiate terms of trade with commercial companies.
However, most of the time growers are operating in buyers market because supply of
produce is abundant. Both growers and exporters have to keep pace with the changing
Year Volume (000 tons) Value (000 US$)
2005/06 100 40
2006/07 110 46
2007/08 125 55
2008/09 150 70
2009/10 200 100

market requirements. The best chance to make a profit for the growers is to meet the
market requirements.
As most of the companies in the food-processing sector are in the small-sized category
and economies of scale are difficult to attain in storage and transportation. This situation
favors a service provider to whom these companies can outsource their storage and
transport functions.
The world market is continually making higher demands for presentation, greater shelf
life and uniform grading of fruit but also is requesting for more competitive commercial
conditions including prices to develop consumption.
The leading exporting countries have consolidated their position on the world market
during the last 10 years in spite of the fact that their export volume has increased 3
folds. New players like Ecuador and Ivory Coast appeared on the above list. They were
exporting almost nothing in 1991. Brazil now exports 12 times more volume than in
1991 and Peru 14 times more while Pakistan has only increased its export volume 4
times. The growth factor for many of these countries has been to build efficient
packinghouses and a reliable cold chain and to shift from exporting by air to exporting
by reefer containers. Pakistan has been late to follow those trends and to invest in upto-
date modern packing facilities in order to improve quality and extend mango shelf life
which is absolutely necessary for sea-shipments.
There is generally a large price differential between good, average, and poor quality
mangoes on the domestic as well as the export markets. Customers are becoming
increasingly selective for high quality fruit. Customers are now looking to products safe
to eat and less chemical prone during pre and post-harvest operations.
Due to poor post-harvest handling and inadequate research to study behavior in
controlled reefer atmosphere, Pakistan mangoes have limited shelf life. This result in
mangoes being air lifted but air cargo is expensive and has a limited capacity.
Improvement in sea cargo handling has encouraged export by sea. Therefore, export to
import markets in close proximity like Gulf and Saudi Arabia has almost shifted from air
to sea. Efforts are underway to extend this facility to distant markets as well. However,
so far exports to distant markets including Europe & Far East are preferred by air. The
estimated export distribution by mode of shipment is as follows:
Sectors Air Sea
Reefer Non-Reefer
Middle East 40% 30% 30%
Far East 100% - -
Europe 100% - -
Others 100% - -

The problems encountered by the exporters on account of shipment by air and see are
reportedly as follows:
By Sea
Non-availability of reefers especially 20 feet containers
Non-adherence to notified transit time
Unilateral increase in freight amidst export season
Off-loading cargo during transit
Hidden charges (fuel adjustment, plug-in charges, container washing charges,
handling charges at port of discharge etc).
Non-entertainment of claims on account of cargo loss/damage caused by
operational inefficiencies of the carriers like malfunctioning of reefer containers,
unreasonably extended transit time etc.
By Air
Off-loading cargo at port of loading or other ports
Space blocked for cargo to be loaded from other ports (for instance, space blocked
at Karachi for cargo to be loaded from Multan or Faisalabad).
Non-performance of commitments to accommodate non-regular/other shippers.
Misuse/misinterpretation of indemnity bond leading to rejection of genuine claims.
No/limited service for emerging markets (Al Mate, China)
7. Consumer Acceptance of Mango in International Markets
a) Size
The world trend today is towards export of mangoes weighing 400/600 grams. In the
export market 350-600g mangoes are marketed but gradually the weight can be
increased to 450/600 gm. Mangoes of 300 g are also exported but fetch a lower price.
Mangoes of more than 650 grams to 2000 grams are also available but their demand is
very small. Pakistan lacks suitable varieties, with Sindhri weighing 300 g and 60% in
that size. Chaunsa is the best 300g. Our two best varieties are going to have tough
competition from Florida red blush mangoes from western hemisphere and African the
United Kingdom and Europe.
Today good quality mangoes within the acceptable sizes are available from new
selections and, with excellent taste and high pulp to seed ratio. In many varieties, the
seed is less than 10% of the pulp as skin with seed does not exceed 20-25%.
Consumers in South-East Asia and South Asia prefer sweeter mangoes but consumers
in Europe like mangoes with less sweetness but still tasty. But South East Asia has its
own mango industry that is undergoing gradual change under influenced consultancy by
Australia.
b) Marketing Aspects
The Europeans get mangoes from many parts of the world like: Pakistan, Peru, India,
Kenya, Mexico, South Africa, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Jamaica, Ivory Coast, Thailand
and Australia. European prefer mango with red blush. They have a limited knowledge of
mangoes with yellow color even though they may be excellent quality. United Kingdom
imports the greatest number than any other European nation. The Asian and Indian
population living in the UK consumes good quality of the fruit there.
Most developed countries importing mangoes get a regular supply the year round
according to the mango season in the growing area. Since most mango seasons are
rather shot, mostly around 3 months, importers selling mangoes have to organize
supply over the year from several exporting countries. As their customers require a
consistent and regular quality, the task is not easy.
For Pakistan to be able to export to the international markets the following issues need
to be addressed:
By Wholesalers
Blemishes on mango are main quality problems experienced by the wholesale
trade (importers or agents) and or a major factor in reducing sales.
Size preference is for medium to large sized mangoes
Storage temperatures used by operators for unripe fruit are inconsistent.
Temperature below 120C will cause chilling injury to many mango varieties raised
in Pakistan. Some varieties from other origin can stay at low temperature.
Ripe fruit un-properly refrigerated can be damaged in short run.
Operators complain regarding over packing, lack of pre cooling and fungal
disease control.
Mango is considered as a specialty item by wholesalers. A lot of them are eager
to market tropical fruits and particularly mangoes but their knowledge of these
fruits is still too limited.
BY Retailers
In developed countries the retailers are grouped in 3 categories,
Supermarket chains (like Tesco, Sainsbury, Carrefour, Ahold, Walmart etc),
fruiters and street vendors.
Supermarkets in developed countries have a market share of more than 65%.
They don’t like to run into quality problems. The suppliers are required to deliver
good, regular and consistent quality produce and to pay attention to its shelf life.
Chain stores avoid mangoes for sale, unless they are sure of the quality based
on a long tem reliable experience with source of supply.
Supermarkets prefer medium to large sized mangoes. The 5000 g size is
preferred over the 350 g, although variety like Julie at 225 g with excellent taste
is also consumed.
Supermarkets prefer to store ripe fruit at 130C.
All prefer mangoes packed in open top fibred board cartons rather than
polystyrene boxes.
Mangoes are refrigerated by retailers (supermarkets and food shops) over night
too often without consideration for degree of ripening and temperature
requirement.
Suppliers are regular but quality mangoes are not always available throughout
the year.
There is little promotional material with retailers and only occasionally leaflets are
available through the wholesales.
By Consumers
Buyers for the street vendors are mostly from developing nations, familiar with
mangoes and their quality. They pick up mangoes that are slightly fermented and
not color full developed, but sold at low rates. These are a low income groups.
At the food shops the income groups segment exhibits a shift to a better income
group. They avoid fruit with blemishes.
At supermarkets, higher income groups are the buyers. Good looking fruits are
available at these supermarkets & buyers prefer yellow skin with a red blush.
Mango sales at supermarkets is lower as compared to the food stores and
fruiters
Consumers have a problem in distinguishing between different varieties of
mangoes or their taste.
Familiar brand attract more buyers.
Price wise mangoes are costly as they arrive by air. This deters buyers from
buying them when quality is not excellent.
Mango consumption is increasing regularly in developed markets because it is a
tasty fruit. Tropical fruit consumption is increasing because they now are
available at affordable prices.
8. Proposed Interventions
Pre-harvest
Organization of Farmer Groups (PHDEB,DOA)
Introduction of early and late maturing varieties (DOA)
Awareness on GAP/EUREPGAP (PHDEB,DOA)
Facilitate adoption of GAP (DOA,CABI,PHDEB)
EUREPGAP certification (PHDEB)
Facilitate contract growing (DOA,PHDEB)
Improved extension services (DOA)
Harvesting & Field Handling
Harvest at correct maturity keeping in view target market
Correct harvesting techniques
De-sap fruit
Field heat removal
Sorting, grading and on-farm packing
On-farm storage
Post-harvest Processing Infrastructure
Cold storages (CA) – Facilities proposed under APZs & Collection Points
Washing, waxing & grading
Hot water dip
Vapour heat treatment (2 facilities proposed one each at Multan & Mirpur Khas)
Irradiation (One facility at Lahore approved, at Karachi in the offing)
Quality insurance laboratories
Logistics
Inland refrigerated transport (Road/Rail)
Overseas shipment (air/sea)
Market Expansion
New markets (Preferably thru bilateral trade agreements)
Business contacts thru export delegations
Product promotion thru expositions
Branding
Publicity
Market Information Collection & Dissemination
Mapping of potential markets
Import market requirements of product quality, packaging & labeling
Import market legislation on tariffs, SPS, etc.
International competitors & their strengths
International prices
Regulatory
Compliance to emerging international requirements (SPS measures)
National grades & quality standards
Pre-shipment inspection
Research and Development
Shelf life of different exportable varieties at different temperature regimes
Physiological disorders like chilling injury to different varieties at different
temperature regimes
Shelf life of irradiated mangoes
Export trials of irradiated mangoes