Taiwan's Premium Mangoes Make European Debut, Industry Confident in 'LV of Mangoes'

Taiwanese mangoes, known for their juiciness and rich aroma, have long been a favorite among food enthusiasts, but tasting them usually required a trip to Taiwan. Starting this year, however, these vibrant yellow-orange fruits are making their debut in Europe, with initial exports to France and the UK.

According to Reuters, Europe typically imports mangoes from countries like India and Pakistan. But Chen Chun-Hsiung, chairman of Taiwan Natural House, says Taiwanese mangoes can easily outperform in flavor, helping overcome consumer hesitation due to high prices.

"Exporting mangoes has become really expensive," he told Reuters at a fruit packaging facility in Taichung. "Even though prices were so high this year, people still bought them."

While Taiwan is internationally renowned for producing advanced semiconductors used in smartphones and artificial intelligence (AI), agriculture has long been one of its foundational industries. During the Japanese colonial period from 1895 to 1945, Taiwan exported agricultural products such as pineapples and bananas.

Although mangoes have been cultivated in Taiwan for a long time, it wasn't until the 1950s that the sweeter 'Irwin' variety was introduced from the United States. Today, Irwin has become one of Taiwan's most famous mango varieties.

Taiwan produced over 100,000 metric tons of mangoes last year, but exports remain a small fraction, primarily to Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea.

Farmer Yu Tsang-Fu has been growing 'Xiaxue' (Summer Snow) mangoes in Taitung for the past 15 years. This year, he shipped five boxes to Europe for trial sales, all of which had to meet strict EU regulations on pesticide residues and other standards.

"Both fruit selection and field management are much stricter under EU standards than for the domestic market," Yu said.

He also expressed confidence that Europeans will fall in love with Taiwanese mangoes.

"The best mangoes in Taiwan are the Summer Snow mangoes," he said. "They are the Louis Vuitton (LV) of mangoes."

(Compiled by Lu Ying-Zi)