Maintaining homogenous quality in international mango
chains does not automatically imply that other consumption
attributes are equally satisfied. In fact, attributes like
firmness, size and absence of damage prevail in international
chains, since they are most related to uniformity in
shelf life. At the national market, mango characteristics
like taste and colour are far more appreciated. It is to be
expected that Northern consumers will also increasingly
value these attributes. Further research should be conducted
to link different types of consumer preferences to
‘optimum’ variability in quality and technical managerial
decisions throughout the chain (Romano et al., 2006).
This could open the way to supply chain management regimes
tailored towards different outlets and consumer
segments.