The more frequent and systematic inspections carried out by the French Fraud Control service (DGCCRF), initially on Sugarloaf from Benin and then on the other main air-freight market sources (Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana), have emphasised the structural problems of the Beninese industry, but above all the difficulties in managing ethephon application on Sugarloaf. The export forecasts for Benin predicted that this variety would fairly soon overtake Cayenne. Within the space of one year, the steep fall in Sugarloaf shipments seems to have doused the hopes of Beninese exporters. This market has once again become a niche market, which is dwindling with every passing month.
The 2015-16 campaign was marked by the DGCCRF stepping up its inspections on the French market. The Beninese supply was hard hit, since they revealed ethephon contents exceeding the MRL (set at 2 mg/kg) on several occasions. The extension of these inspections to other sources (Cameroon, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire), and to Cayenne exports, led to the air-freight supply being restructured, with two main players, Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire, the only ones regularly supplying the market.
Yet these two sources alone could not manage to provide the volumes required to fully satisfy demand. So the operators had to continue to work with Benin, though importing fruits with less and less coloration, and therefore increasingly difficult to sell. The air-freight pineapple consumer seeks ready-to-eat, and above all, highly coloured fruit.
The lack and non-uniformity of coloration of the Cayenne batches made marketing complicated. Yet what can we say about the sales of Sugarloaf offered to consumers still green? Importers made several attempts to explain that the fruit had in no way lost any of its organoleptic qualities (see ethephon inset), unfortunately without much success for the time being.
In this context the arrival onto the market in late June of additional small batches of highly coloured Sweet from Cuba, and subsequently from the Dominican Republic, did not go unnoticed, especially since these fruits sold very quickly and at high rates. After ousting Cayenne from the sea-freight market, is Sweet preparing to pull off another coup on the air-freight market?
As in previous campaigns, average rates were fairly stable, mostly fluctuating between 1.85 and 1.95 euro/kg.
From week 41 to week 53 of 2015, the campaign was above all marked by the DGCCRF stepping up its spot inspections. After initially focusing on Sugarloaf batches, they were then extended to Cayenne batches. We then observed a distinct decrease in shipments from Benin, and a loss of coloration of the fruits on the market. In the run-up to the end-of-year holidays, the overall supply was very limited. The Cameroonian supply, was particularly hard hit by freight problems. The few batches reaching the market very readily found takers, and at high rates. The average rates fluctuated between 1.80 and 1.90 euro/kg for Cayenne, and between 1.90 and 1.95 euro/kg for Sugarloaf, though sales were well down for this variety.
From January to June (weeks 1 to 22 of 2016), the overall air-freight market supply fell. With volumes available lower than demand, the market appeared livelier from the beginning of the year. Freight problems continued and intensified in Cameroon with the closure of Douala airport, while Benin was still struggling to resolve its ethephon MRL concerns. At the beginning of the year, only Côte d’Ivoire was managing to provide a regular supply to the air-freight market. Despite the small volumes available, it remained buoyant with fairly high rates. At Easter, when the market was short of fruit, operators managed to organise a cargo operation (30 tonnes) out of Cameroon. Throughout this period, the majority of fruits on the market originated from Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire. Despite some quality concerns over certain Cameroonian batches, sales remained fluid since the supply was well below demand. Average rates for the period fluctuated between 1.85 and 2.00 euros/kg for Cayenne, and between 1.90 and 2.05 euros/kg for Sugarloaf.
From June, seasonal fruits gradually captured the bulk of demand. Although limited, the overall supply really struggled to sell, considerably complicating the situation on the air-freight market. The inspections carried out by the DGCCRF went on unabated, and during week 23, all Sugarloaf batches received from Benin underwent inspection, and all were destroyed due to exceeding the MRL. The average Sugarloaf and Cayenne rates for the period varied between 1.85 and 1.90 euro/kg.
In September, the very limited supply was well below demand, which enabled operators to charge average rates of between 1.90 and 2.00 euros/kg for Cayenne, and 2.00 euros/kg for Sugarloaf
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