Wednesday 08 / May / 2024
Muscat: With Oman importing mangoes from several countries across the world, expats in the Sultanate have claimed their country has the best version of the fruit.
Patriotic fervour seemed to grip expat residents in Oman. While the Indian mango season has just ended, Pakistani mangoes are still being imported into the Sultanate, with the crop in Pakistan being harvested a bit later. In addition, Oman imports mangoes from Egypt, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Kenya, among other nations.
According to the Food and Agricultural Organisation, India is the world’s largest producer of mangoes, growing about 18 million tonnes of the fruit per annum, with Pakistan producing just under a 10th of that, or 1.7 million tonnes.
Oman ranks among the top 10 importers of Indian mangoes, having brought in nearly a thousand tonnes of the fruit from India in 2016-2017, which were worth about OMR4.9 million.
“You cannot compete with Pakistani mangoes, especially chausa, sindhri, anwar letor and langra,” crowed Shahid Afzal, rattling off the names of the most popular Pakistani mangoes.
“The Pakistani mango is the number one mango!” claimed Rayan Khan Afridi, another Pakistani expat in Oman. “In many stores, I have seen Pakistan mangoes placed ahead of Indian ones, just to show people that they are better.”
Indians living and working in Oman also responded in kind.
“The Alphonso mango from the Ratnagiri district in India is the king of mangoes,” countered Meena Pandya.
Taste and colour
“There are none to beat them, with regards to taste and the awesome colour. There are others as well, such as kesar, rajapuri, langda, etc. from India’s different regions.”
“When the Indian mangoes are no more in season the others are available, and these are also good,” she added. “We eat fruits and vegetables from all over the world, and Lulu Hypermarket holds a mango fest and there are more than 100 varieties from around the world.”
“Alphonso mangoes are the most delicious and they are one of my favourites,” said Syed Ahmed.
Filipino and Egyptian expats were also quick to praise their versions of the overwhelmingly popular fruit, unreservedly expressing their fondness for the fruity, pulpy flavourful fruits their nation grew.
“Mangoes come different types and varieties, but I recommend the Philippine mango to all those who live in Oman,” said Alejandro Pandan Jr. “For sure, once you have tasted it you will definitely ask for more ask for more.”
“You should try Philippine mangoes, you won’t regret it,” added Rhea Junsay. “You’ll be looking for more once you’ve tasted it. Many tourists visit the Philippines and mango are among the best fruits they look for.”
But Abdel Jundy, from Egypt, said, “The Egyptian mango is best. When I eat it here, it reminds me of home. Everyone must try this mango because you cannot compare it to any other.”
Ramanuj Venkatesh, assistant accounts manager at Larsen and Toubro, though, was quick to see the positives this brought for expats in Oman.
“When a mango has been picked up by the average expat, he feels more at home as the very sweet fragrance and the delectable taste justifies its market price,” he explained. “To many people, this is a symbol of what they miss back home.”
“Pakistan’s expat population of 220,000 is a quite a huge number out of the entire expatriate population of two million, for example” he added.
“This bodes well to the Pakistani economy as the foreign exchange earned from this lucrative export amounts to 75 million dollars on average.”
