Story: Guinea to Export Sample of Fresh Pineapples to France and Morocco (en)

Consumers in France and Morocco may soon be enjoying fresh pineapples from Guinea.

Guinea’s pineapple producers will be sending in the following weeks samples to target markets in order to organize quality testing in certified laboratories and tasting sessions through foreign distributions – the first step towards boosting Guinea’s pineapple exports.

More than 35 public and private sector representatives of the pineapple value chain in Guinea recently agreed, with the support of international experts connected online, to work together to increase the volume of exports, upgrade packaging to quality standards, update transportation to refrigerated trucks, and improve air transport export processes for premium pineapple.

In particular, the participants discussed the results of extensive studies on markets with high export potential for Guinean pineapple in the European Union, North Africa (Morocco) and the sub-region (The Gambia and Mali) recently conducted by the International Trade Centre (ITC).

The workshop, which took place between the 20 and 21 January in Conakry (Noom Hotel), was organized by ITC in coordination with UNIDO and ENABEL that, as part of the Entreprena project, is developing an export strategy targeting the Senegalese market, in order to ensure better synergy of the interventions in the value chain increase cooperation among implementing agencies.

"This is an excellent initiative that allows actors to become more professional and aware of the market challenges," said Ms. Virginie Touré, Managing Director of the Guinean Society for Rural Development.

Guinea’s pineapple exporters are focusing on exporting its Baroness de Rothschild and Cayenne local varieties.

The meeting made it possible to discuss the assets of these local varieties, identify appropriate transportation methods in relation to the specific demand of the target markets and select two markets that will be targeted by ITC in-depth marketing studies (France and Morocco).

ITC work to enhance export promotion and marketing of the Guinean pineapple in both regional and international markets is part of the ITC portfolio of activities under the West Africa Competitiveness Programme (WACOMP) national chapter in Guinea. The programme is financed by the European Union.