Mexico is the US’ main mango supplier this time of year and the country’s latest growing area, Los Mochis, is harvesting. “Overall, the Mexican mango season has been good in terms of supply and quality,” says Albert Perez with Continental Fresh. Year to date, the country has exported 76 million cases of mangos versus 73 million the same time last season. “By the time the Mexican season finishes, the overall projection is for shipments to be up three to five percent compared to last season.”
“The consistent supply and quality that the country brings has been driving consumption,” according to Perez. This showed especially during the month of June, which is National Mango Month in the US. Continental Fresh ran special promotions the entire month with both large retail chains as well as many of the agile and creative independent supermarkets. “What also boosted sales and exposure were our Water For All mango display bins. They provide an opportunity to cross merchandise and feature our mangos in different parts of the store while raising awareness for our commitment to water projects. During the entire Mexican mango season, all buying segments have been fully committed to promoting and getting the message out about the greatness of mangos.”
An example of the great collaboration between the industry and retail partners is a heavy promotion in spring to manage additional supply. “In late April, we had an unprecedented 5.1 million cases of mangos arrive in the US in one week from Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Although this volume caused a significant drop in prices to the detriment of our growers for a few weeks, the market consequently absorbed this volume.” Many promotions were created to manage this supply and mangos reached many new hands during this time.
Right: Water For All mango display bin.
Smooth transition?
While mango prices have been quite reasonable lately, demand during the month of July was not quite as strong compared to previous years. “Increased heat in the growing areas brought us some challenges in terms of volumes and condition. However, the situation seems to be improving as we are headed into August with beautiful and large Keitt varieties beginning to flourish from Mexico’s last growing area, Los Mochis,” Perez mentioned. He expects Los Mochis to provide excellent quality and production through September, weather permitting. If weather allows, it will make for a smooth transition to Brazil. “Offshore product from Brazil is running at least two weeks behind and promotional supplies are not expected until the second half of September.” Preliminary projections out of Brazil are for mango production to be slightly down. “Brazil is an important market for us and for the first time, we will be packing our Water For All brand out of there.”
Fall outlook
In addition to Brazil, Ecuador and Peru are other key mango supplying countries to the US during the 4th quarter of the year. “Although I would like to have more information before commenting on production in the 4th quarter, it is important to point out that it is an El Niño year,” shared Perez. “Preliminary information out of Ecuador and Peru is telling us that volumes out of these countries could be significantly reduced due to these climatic conditions and their effect on flowering and fruit yield.” Continental Fresh will continue to monitor the situation.
For more information:
Albert Perez
Continental Fresh
Tel: +1 (305) 860-9611
albert@continentalfresh.com
www.continentalfresh.com