Dhaka: Bangladesh on Sunday started exporting mangoes for the first time to the supermarkets of the United Kingdom creating a huge commercial prospect for growers to get higher prices of their best quality harvest.

First shipment of mango export in the current season will enter the Walmart Chain Shop in UK, which is the first export of Bangladesh’s mangoes to mainstream international supermarket, says a BSS report.

Speakers informed about the new export product at the opening ceremony of the mango export in the Giasuddin Milky Conference room of Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in Dhaka.

Representative of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to Bangladesh Mike Robson, vice chairman of Export Promotion Bureau Shubhashish Bose, director general of DAE AZM Momatazul Karim, managing director of Hotex Foundation Abdul Jalil Bhuiyan and senior value chain expert of Hotex Foundation Md Saleh Ahmed, among others, addressed the function.

Mike Robson said, “I am really excited a lot to say that mangoes from Bangladesh have market access to UK’s chain shop meaning to open a gateway for other supermarkets in Europe. Mango exports to European markets will ensure better livelihood of Bangladeshi farmers for receiving high prices of mangoes. It is another reason for my excitement.”

“It is not a charity and even it is not a donation.... It is fully a commercial issue,” he said all stakeholders including farmers must have to produce good quality mangoes maintaining its highest quality, if they want to continue mango exports to Europe’s chain shops.

In the last mango season, Saleh said, FAO and Hortex Foundation in collaboration with DAE arranged field visits of UK international experts of mango at three growing areas --- Satkhira, Chapainawabganj and Rajshahi and made a sample shipment of nine mango varieties to International Procurement Logistics (IPL) .

He said ASDA, one of UK’s leading submarket chains under Walmart group, selected three mango varieties --- Himsagar, Langra and BARI Aam-3 (Amrapalli).

This year, as many as 180 farmers under nine upazila in three districts of Satkhira, Chapainawabganj and Rajshahi—have been registered to supply mangoes, Dr Saleh said adding “These collected mangoes will be exported through ensuring adequate safety and package standard.”

As mangoes produced from Sathkhira came to market two or three weeks earlier than Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj, a total of 2.73 metric tons of the district were exported today, he added. In the current season, another shipment of mangoes will be exported to the UK supermarkets when mangoes of Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj are matured.