An Indian mango exporter is looking to expand its global market profile over the coming months by tempting North American and European consumers with "the king of fruits."

Delicious Mangoes is one of India's leading exporters of the Dusehri, Chaunsa, Alphonso, Kesar and Banganapalli mango varieties with sales in the Middle East, New Zealand and Australia. Now the mango marketer is planning to expand operations by targeting European countries, the U.S. and Canada.

Chief executive Rajeev Srivastava said the task will be tough, but he had high hopes for this season’s harvest, which he said should be ready for export come June.

"This year we have a target to export our Delicious Mangoes to the United States and Canada. Mango is the main fruit of Asia and it has developed its own importance all over the world. ... If we cater for the American and Canadian markets, our business is likely to grow by between 18% and 20%. We have very aggressive expansion plans for this year," he told www.freshfruitportal.com.

To improve quality control, Delcious Mangoes has partnered with Mangopolyclinic.com, a government entity that provides technical know-how to growers.

"Mango growers are mainly accustomed to using traditional techniques and they feel these old cultivating methods are very convenient. But by virtue of various programs run by the Government of India, the mindset of orchardists is changing fast and our partners are also working hard with the growers," the chief executive said.

According to Srivastava, there is a growing global trend for Indian mangoes and it is this demand that he wants to capitalize on. Aside from targeting the U.S., the mango exporter also has plans to expand into Europe. He cited new, direct cargo routes out of India into Europe as a factor that will help generate new export deals.

"We have so many mango varieties available in India with a rich taste and nice aroma. They really are very special. We are noticing now that consumers very much like the taste of the Indian mango and they are slowly buying them. This is a positive trend for us which is emerging in the global market," Srivastava said.

"Buyers [from the U.S. and Canada] have not approached us so far, as they may be buying the Mexican mango varieties such as the Tommy Atkins or Kingston Pride.

"We also want to have good imports into Europe especially in countries like Spain, Germany, France, Italy and Portugal where we have direct flights [from India] and one-stop flights, as well as shipments which can reach Europe within 24 hours."

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