To bring the best organic dried mango to the European market, our Purchasing Manager, Emilie recently embarked on a journey to Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast. Her mission: to visit and qualify top organic dried mango producers, ensuring they meet our rigorous standards. Here’s an in-depth look at her findings and the unique qualities of these two West African countries.
Burkina Faso: Tradition Meets Quality
Burkina Faso has a tropical climate with distinct wet and dry seasons, creating perfect conditions for mango trees to thrive. While wild mangos grow abundantly, they are too fibrous for drying purposes. Instead, the focus is on cultivated varieties, where the wild mango is crossed with specific types in a controlled environment.
Mango Varieties
Burkina Faso grows various types of mango – the Brooks variety stands out and is sought after by our clients due to its sweet and tangy flavour profile especially good for drying. Other well known varieties are Amelie, which is quite tart and tangy and then Lippens and Kent – both sweet and used mainly for fresh export.
Historical Expertise in Dried Mango
Burkina Faso holds a significant place in the dried mango industry. In the 1990s, a Swiss NGO initiated a program that laid the foundation and provided the first drying machines for organic mango production in the region. Despite some countries using more advanced technology, they have the original technologies and years of know-how, trial and error and today dried mango production employs thousands of women in Burkina. Some producers we met, still use the first ovens (although upgraded) developed in the original program as the heating principle is still the same to this day.
