LAHORE: Pakistan is the world’s fourth largest producer of mangoes behind China, Indonesia and India, with a little under 2.5m tonnes produced annually. Given the perishable nature of the fruit, and lack of storage and processing units, a considerable portion of the produce is wasted. If properly handled, Pakistan can significantly boost its mango exports. This year’s export target was 125,000 tonnes, with a majority of it going to Iran, the UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia.

Unfortunately, fruits like mangoes have an estimated four to five days before they are rendered useless for human consumption. Although the shelf life can be bumped up to a week or two with proper refrigeration, that is simply not the best way to put this forward. The above factors combined, fresh mango export from Pakistan has always struggled despite great international demand for it. The solution to this issue is mango purée – a simple paste made from grinding up a designated fruit with no preservatives. Then, it is packed, stored and sold to buyers across the globe, including some of the largest commercially known brands.

Compared to just raw fruits picked off the tree, purée is a processed material, used in juices, flavours and many more widely used products, thus opening its export to more than fruit sellers and countries without a constant supply of fruit in designated seasons. Apart from this, pulp or purée is much easier to store in refrigeration units in barrels, without the ‘fragile’ labels necessary to store raw fruits. India is far ahead of us in this field. But we can beat it in a very short time.

Farooq Akhtar, the chief finance officer (CFO) of a Multan-based company, explains: “In terms of aroma, colour and brix (sugar content) Pakistani fruits, such as the mango and guava, are of much superior quality as compared to other producers in the region”.

Obviously, purée isn’t a perfect solution to all of Pakistan’s fruit processing problems but it’s a great start for growing fruit exports in a value-added form. “Pakistan can earn $800m in export revenue, converting only 40pc or around one million tonne of mangoes wasted in the country every year into purée,” Farooq adds.

Given incentives and the right policy, this sector can attract foreign investment, especially from brands that are looking for a cheaper alternative to Indian produced purée, which dominates the market.

Pakistani policymakers must look for the mango puree market and tap this opportunity to raise the revenue. The United States is the biggest importer of mango puree in the whole world and in 2020, its global share was 36pc while its import is expected to grow further. Saudi Arabia is the second biggest importer of mango puree in the world with 10,000 tonne share in the world market in 2022. They are followed by the countries like the Netherlands and Japan. Pakistan enjoys close relations with at least two biggest importers of mango puree and the government should use the good terms with these countries to increase export of the produce there.

Despite being one of the top producers of mango, Pakistan is nowhere in the top five or six exporter countries of mango puree. It’s time that the country should improve its figures and take steps to export mango puree and raise revenue that’s almost readily available in the country.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2023