8.3. Traders/Middlemen
In the case of the pomelo export to EU market, the farmer sells pomelo through the
management of the producer organization in partnership with the exporters. Therefore there is
less concern for the trader/middlemen for this market – still traders and middleman absorb most
of the fruits which are not intended for export – which is the larger part and the performance of
this segment is crucial to the overall economic performance of the pomelo value chain.
CONSTRAINTS:
• Management skills
Traders/middlemen mostly are not concerned about traceability. The normal trade
practice is based on verbal agreements.
Prices are low
• Facilities at collection points are below standard
Cleaness at collection points of traders/middlemen is necessary to ensure food safety,
hygiene and quality. Some level of investment would be required to provide basic
infrastructure. Currently, collection points of such middle man are mostly located quite
close to inappropriate places e.g. toilets, kitchens; this poses risks from bacteria or
diseases carried by insects, especially if the collection house has no screens. Moreover,
most traders/middlemen do not have cold storage to maintain the quality of pomelo and
prolong shelf life for higher value addition and quality strategies
• Change in domestic trade patterns.
Although the traders and middleman play still an important role in absorbing B grades
and undergrades for the domestic market it is assumed that domestic trade patterns
change increasingly to supermarkets which have different supply chain patterns and
traceability and quality requirements
OPPORTUNITIES AT THIS LEVEL ARE AS FOLLOWS:
So far traders/middlemen take the role of gathering the pomelo from producers and
provide the service to deliver to the next trader or wholesale market or vender stall or
even outlet. On the other hand, they also provide the cash flow to the producer as the
grower prefer to receive cash directly after they sell pomelo.
On the long run it would be benefitial to the grower group to have their own packing and
grading facilities which could also handle the domestic trade channels for quality and
added value lines directly to domestic outlines.