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Tons of fresh Cambodian mangoes are being processed in Thailand for the Asian export market. Shame they couldn't process them in Cambodia and export them directly.

Cambodian mango in great demand by Thai fruit processors
Published: 07/10/2016 21:12

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 7 (FN) -- A large volume of Cambodia's fresh mangoes are being delivered to Thailand's fruit processing plants from where it is bound to be re-exported.

Hundreds of tons of Keo Romeat mangoes are exported to Thailand daily from Kampong Speu in central Cambodia and northwestern Battambang via Pong Namron border crossing in the eastern Thai province of Chantaburi, Vudhipong Ratanamon, head of Trat province's Agricultural Cooperatives for Processed Fruits and Export, said on Friday.

Most of the fresh Cambodian mangoes are processed in Thailand as a dried or sugar-coated fruit bound for export to China, South Korea and other Asian markets, Vudhipong said.

Keo Romeat mango currently sells for about 35 U.S. cents per kilogram in Thai-Cambodian border markets but can sell for as much as 2 U.S. dollars a kilo after it has been processed and re-exported as a dried or sugar-coated fruit...
From Freshnews.

A trade agreement signed last December to sell mangoes to South Korea has stalled, because Cambodia is not capable of cleaning the mangoes to Korean standards. This is pitiful. One year later, and they still haven't managed to set up a mango treatment plant, despite a lucrative market waiting with open arms. Too hard.

Mango producers struggle to meet Korean standards
Fri, 18 November 2016

It has been nearly a year since the government signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea that aimed to put Cambodian mangoes on the shelves of supermarkets in Seoul, yet local producers say there is little sign of any movement.

According to In Chayvan, president of the Kampong Speu Mango Association, the potentially lucrative trade agreement signed last December has stalled on South Korea’s stringent sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) regulations, which local producers are unable to comply with.

“Firstly, we are farmers, so we were happy to hear that the government had inked this agreement, but when we later found out about South Korea’s requirements, we lost hope,” he said yesterday.

“South Korea is focused on food safety, which is the main barrier for us as we cannot afford the technology required to kill all the bacteria on our mangoes,” he explained.

According to Chayvan, Cambodia’s top-tiered keo romeat mangoes currently fetch between 1,000 and 2,000 riel per kilo here, but could sell for considerably more if shipped to South Korea. Yet it could be several years before Cambodia has a processing plant that can treat the mangoes with heated water, bringing bacteria counts to within acceptable levels.

Chayvan said Cambodian mango growers would be better off focusing their efforts on securing export contracts for China, and upping shipments to the Thai and Vietnamese markets. He said these countries have less stringent SPS regulations, while Thailand and Vietnam are ready to bend the rules on SPS and certificates of origin when their domestic production is insufficient to meet demand.

[Mong Reththy, chairman of the agro-industrial conglomerate Mong Reththy Group,] said, the Koreans take food safety very seriously and this has proven a stumbling block...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/m ... -standards

The great mango dream - back story:
This article is over three years old - at the time, the promised construction of a mango processing factory was bringing hope to Cambodian mango growers, that at last they could access the export markets of S. Korea,Japan and Singapore to make some money. Somewhere along the way, it didn't turn out as planned.
And by almost 2017, there's still no factory for the mango growers...(see previous post).

First mango export factory planned
Wed, 23 October 2013
Mong Reththy Group is co-investing $2 million to build a factory in Preah Sihanouk province for the packaging and export of Cambodian mangoes, the first company to formally ship the fruit overseas.

Located in Koe Phos commune, the factory will cover 12 hectares of land and is a joint investment with Singaporean company King Fruit. Operations won’t start until late 2014, at the earliest.

Oknha Mong Reththy, president of the eponymous firm, said yesterday that mango cultivation in Cambodia has ramped up over the past decade, but until now the fruit hasn’t been directly exported to markets outside the country.

To change that, Cambodia needed a processing factory for the washing, storing, packaging and testing of mangoes to guarantee a fruit free of chemicals.
“We seek to export directly to Singapore, Japan and Korea,” he said...

PPP archives.

Is anyone actually growing export quality fruit?

I would expect export quality to mean large, unblemished fruit. Chemical free would be a plus, I'm sure.

Username Taken wrote:Is anyone actually growing export quality fruit?

I would expect export quality to mean large, unblemished fruit. Chemical free would be a plus, I'm sure.

Organic fruit you mean ? Not sure.
Apart from that, there seems to be a consensus that it's just easier to sell mangoes cheaper to Vietnam and Thailand where few questions are asked, rather than raise the standards that are necessary to break into more demanding markets.

thats why KOW agri sector cant progress, they always go to the easiest route

Anchor Moy wrote:

Username Taken wrote:Is anyone actually growing export quality fruit?

I would expect export quality to mean large, unblemished fruit. Chemical free would be a plus, I'm sure.

Organic fruit you mean ? Not sure.
Apart from that, there seems to be a consensus that it's just easier to sell mangoes cheaper to Vietnam and Thailand where few questions are asked, rather than raise the standards that are necessary to break into more demanding markets.

Not talking about Organic fruit. But if it is organic that might help in today's environment.

I'm talking about 'export quality'. Which I would think means 'the best of the best'!
i.e. Larger mangoes with a length of around 6 inches, without black-spot or other blemishes.

Quality Control. We have? Yes?

FYI The term organic is very vague. It does not nor has it ever meant chemical free. Pesticides or otherwise.

CEOCambodiaNews wrote: To change that, Cambodia needed a processing factory for the washing, storing, packaging and testing of mangoes to guarantee a fruit free of chemicals.
PPP archives.

From what they say in the articles, the quality of the fruit is good, but it needs cleaning to get rid of pesticides. How difficult can that be ?

Anchor Moy wrote:

CEOCambodiaNews wrote: To change that, Cambodia needed a processing factory for the washing, storing, packaging and testing of mangoes to guarantee a fruit free of chemicals.
PPP archives.

From what they say in the articles, the quality of the fruit is good, but it needs cleaning to get rid of pesticides. How difficult can that be ?

\

Impossible actually. The pesticides are often applied throughout the crops growing cycle. It is absorbed into the _____________. This applies to every fruit/veg grown here. Not only mangoes.Washing only removes what might be most recently applied.

There are hundreds of studies done in a world far removed from here showing the levels of toxicity.Inn the USA strawberries & apples lead the list of highly dosed fruit.
Keep in mind that most rural growers are semi if not totally illiterate & that the pesticides used in Cambodia are mostly manufactured or compounded in Vietnam or Thailand therefore very few can read the labels to adhere to mixing/dilution instruction. They just follow with what someone somewhere instructed them to.

This IMHO could also explain some of the learning disabilities affecting Cambodians as a group.
YVMV.

www.usda.gov/organic Even in United Nanny States of Merica the term organic is a wild card.