"We're seeing a tremendous volume of fruit come into the country the last three weeks. We've been near the four million box mark combined between Mexico and all the central American countries," says Greg Golden with the Amazon Produce Network in Vineland, NJ. Golden notes that this includes fruit from Guatemala, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Puerto Rico.
That said, the changeover of regions has begun with the Southern Mexican states including Oxaca and Chiapas winding down along with countries such as Guatemala finishing up. "We’re going to see supply tighten up as we get into the month of May and into the beginning of June. Then it’s going to take off again," says Golden.
Greg Golden with Amazon's 5-down Display Ready Box.
That’s when Mexican regions such as Sinaloa and Nayarit will begin production. "We’ll still have fruit coming from Jalisco but the big volume peak of the season is when we have Sinaloa and Nayarit going full blast," says Golden. "From about mid-June through to August, we’re going to see a very large supply of mangos from what we can tell." He also adds that they’re watching how much fruit abortion is happening on the trees right now in Sinaloa and hoping the percentage of fruit falling off isn’t too high.
Variety change too
Varieties will begin to switch over as well. While Ataulfo and Tommy Atkins are in season now, Hadens are beginning to fade away. “As we get later in June and into July, the Kents take over as the main variety. Ataulfos will remain steadily available. In late August, Keitt mangos will become the predominant variety,” says Golden.
While demand continues to be strong for mangos, Golden did note that Cinco de Mayo didn’t have as strong a demand as usual this year.
More stable pricing
This year’s mango pricing is proving more consistent, especially compared to last year which saw some some volatile jumps. “We didn’t see extreme highs in April that we saw last year nor did we see the rapid and brutal fall like we did last year. It was very volatile last year and it’s been more steady this year,” says Golden. “Last year Peru had a sudden stop to it and Mexico started and then pulled back. This year there’s better forecasting out of Mexico and everyone is more cautious.”
Looking ahead, Golden sees production slowing down between now and May 20th. “Instead of being at this three million box level that we’ve been at, it’s slowing down. Last week it was only about 2.7 and we’ll see it drop to the 2.5 level. This is Mexican volumes only because the other central American regions are fading,” says Golden. “We’ll see everything tighten up. And then when we hit mid-to late June and we’ll be right back to a glut of product.”
For more information:
Greg Golden
Amazon Produce Network
Tel: +1 (856) 442-0410
greg@amazonprod.com
www.amazonprod.com