Consumer buying behaviour changed in local mango market amid mobile internet restrictions

Digital marketing in Myanmar and sales have remarkably declined owing to the mobile internet restrictions, and the buying behaviour has also changed in the domestic market, said an official of the Myanmar Mango Market and Technical Development Association.
“This year, exports to Muse border dropped. However, mango with good packaging is sent to various regions and states in the country. The mango reached most of the buyers through digital platform previously.
The ban on mobile internet and wireless broadband internet limited the digital sales,” said U Kyaw Soe Naing, secretary of the Myanmar Mango Market and Technical Development Association.
There are over 30,000 mango acres in Mandalay Region. The mango is normally harvested from mid-April to July across the country.
Normally, Myanmar primarily exports mango to China through the Muse land border.
“The domestic market sees a good potential this year, especially Yangon and Mandalay.
A packed mango is worth K350-400 in the domestic market.
At present, the foreign demand is still sluggish. The demand is expected to climb up in May. This year, the market is expected to rely on China mostly.
The mangoes were shipped to Singapore and Russia in the previous years. This year, they are still trying to penetrate those external markets,” U Kyaw Soe Naing elaborated.
The price of mango in pack ranges from K350-500. A mango tree from seed is worth K400-500.
A grafted mango tree is K1,000-1,500. A plant from seed can produce mango in three years of cultivation.
A grafted mango can yield them in one to two years.
This year, the mango growers reduced the cultivation cost, and the yield is down by 50 per cent as against the year-ago period. If it is hard to ship to the external market this year, the mango is likely to depend on the domestic market only. —Tin Lin Htet (IPRD)/GLNM