Assessment of post-harvest losses in mango supply chain from farm to consumer

Abstract:

What happens to a mango between the tree and the dinner table is, in economic terms, almost as important as how well it was grown. This research quantified post-harvest losses at each stage of the mango supply chain from farm gate to consumer in the São Francisco Valley production region of Brazil during the 2022 and 2023 harvest seasons. A total of 48 supply chain actors (12 farmers, 8 collectors, 8 transporters, 10 wholesalers, and 10 retailers) were monitored across two mango varieties (Tommy Atkins and Palmer). Cumulative losses from harvest to consumer reached 48.6% by weight, with transport contributing the largest single share at 12.8%, followed by retail (9.6%) and farm-level handling (8.4%). Mechanical damage was the main cause of loss at farm, collection, and transport stages, while over-ripening dominated at wholesale and retail. Temperature abuse — defined as exposure above 25 °C for more than 4 hours — was recorded at 72.4% of monitored consignments. The estimated economic loss was R$3,840 per tonne of fruit entering the chain. These results demonstrate that nearly half of harvested mango is wasted before reaching consumers, and that temperature management during transport is the single most impactful intervention point.