Mangos are suddenly unusually cheap in Israel – and the drop in price becomes a burden for farmers. The reasons are diverse and global.
Nimrod briefly looks at the price tag and then places five large, yellow-red mangoes in his bags brought with them. On the Carmel market in the heart of Tel Aviv, he always buys fresh vegetables and fruit, says the Israeli. He is surprised at how cheap mangoes are. One kilogram is available for the equivalent of around 2.50 euros.
“They were twice as expensive,” he says. “I can imagine that the war has to be in the Gaza Strip. Many abroad simply don’t want to buy Israeli mangoes anymore.”
Mangos in Israel – like many foods – are considered expensive pleasure. Not so this summer. There is currently an oversupply. The prices have therefore dropped significantly. There are several reasons.
Competition from Brazil
On the one hand, the harvest was good, on the other hand, less mangoes are sold to Europe. 85 percent of Israeli mangoes usually end up in supermarket shelves in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Great Britain.
But there are mainly mangoes from Brazil, reports Nir Harel von Galilee Export, one of the leading Israeli agricultural companies. “It is currently hardly economical to export. Brazil has flooded the European market with its affordable mangoes”. The background is the US tariffs of 50 percent to which the Brazilian exporters reacted.
“Sometimes difficult to understand”
While consumers are happy, Israel’s farmers suffer. Moti Almoz is one of them. Among other things, he manages 2,000 mango trees on the lake Genezareth in northern Israel. This year he will not get all the fruits sold. “It is sometimes difficult to understand how it may be that something that is decided in the large white house reaches a few small trees here in Israel.”
Mangobauer Moti Almoz on his farm am See Genezareth
Moti Almoz used to sell many of his mangoes to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The story has been since October 7, 2023. Nir Harel reports that this is a problem for Israel’s farmers. The sales market in the Gaza Strip was more important. “The purchasing power in the Gaza Strip was always good, the demand was great. That took the pressure out of the market that we are now feeling.”
British Supermarket chain announces Boykott
In addition, there are calls for boycott against Israeli products due to the war in the Gaza Strip and the occupation of the West Bank. In addition to mangoes, this also affects avocados and dates. The British company Co-OP with around 2,300 grocery stores, for example, has recently announced that they no longer sell products from Israel. As a reason, it says that there is “internationally recognized” human rights violations and violations of international law.
So far, no official, far-reaching boycott declarations of food importers are known from Germany. Exporters like Nir Harel still notice a reluctance to some dealers. “The mangoes of our company have not yet been rejected for political reasons. However, I hear that smaller dealers have problems. However, not to a significant extent.”
Worrying look towards the EU
What is more of Israeli food exporters than boycott calls is the possibility that the EU will expose the association agreement with Israel. This is what countries like Spain and Ireland demand. Should this happen, the far -reaching economic and political consequences for Israel would have. The agreement grants Israeli products duty-free access to the EU market. A suspension would mean that exports from Israel are subject to tariffs again.
The Mangofarmer Moti Almoz from the Sea of Genezareth reports that the harvest is as good as through. He also builds olives. It is harvested in two months and then pressed. The farmer hopes that the sale of olive oil will work better than with the mangoes this year. He is an optimist, says Almoz. The situation is not different in this complicated region.
