London, Aug 08: The mango is an exotic fruit in Britain and last year's Indian summer festival at Selfridges displayed a variety of mangoes from India, creating a growing interest in the fruit. Pakistan has now become second largest supplier with a 15 per cent share in the UK's global imports of mangoes.
This summer, the mango promotion was undertaken by Harrods and Selfridges in collaboration with Pakistan High Commission in London. Last year in June, Harrods had held a five-day mango exhibition, during which, some 400 boxes of mangoes weighing two kgs each were sold at the price of £12 per box. Selfridges did the same.
The two-year promotional effort by Pakistan has paid off. The strategy adopted during last year entailed a 20 to 25 per cent discount offered by the exporting firm to both the stores for free tasting of the mango. Both, Harrods and Selfridges have now decided to provide shelf space to Pakistani mangoes in the coming years through direct import.