Growing mango popularity in foodservice

According to the National Mango Board’s (NMB) 2011 Consumer Attitudes and Usage Study, 47 percent of mangos are eaten outside the home. With this in mind, the NMB works closely with foodservice professionals, chefs and operators to encourage the use of fresh mango in dishes at restaurant chains across the United States. The NMB has seen great success in increasing fresh mango menu items in 2012 with four NMB mango promotions.

In February, the NMB partnered with BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse for the third year in a row to promote permanent mango menu items in their restaurants. The promotion ran from February to April 2012.

During the same February through April time period, the NMB also ran a promotion with first-time fresh mango users, Daphne’s California Greek with 55 locations. In this new partnership, Daphne’s added mango to their menu with a limited time offer (LTO) mango dish.

During the last week of the school year (April 30 – May 4, 2012) the NMB also partnered with the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass), where college students had a chance to enjoy fresh mangos through the NMB’s promotion, Mango Mania. More than 14,000 meals a day were served at the university’s four dining halls.

The NMB’s fourth promotion was with major frozen yogurt chain, Red Mango. Red Mango participated in the mango craze for the month of May, featuring fresh mangos as their topping of the month. During this promotion, Red Mango used NMB-branded point of sale materials to educate their customers, while also offering $1 off coupons for their purchase. Red Mango also spread mango nutrition messages to their customers through several of their social media channels, including e-blasts, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

In addition to mango promotions, the NMB works with foodservice publications to get mango stories in foodservice magazines and newspapers throughout the year. In their outreach efforts, the NMB attended the National Restaurant Association (NRA) show where the newest innovations and trends for culinary professionals are showcased.

Additionally, the NMB also sponsored a morning refreshment break prior to the NRA show for the Marketing Executives Group (MEG), a non-profit study group designed as an educational forum for foodservice marketing executives to raise the standards of excellence in restaurant marketing. The Spring 2012 Conference brought together 250 registrants.

The NMB also sponsored the Flavor Experience in association with Flavor & The Menu magazine.

For more information about the NMB’s foodservice outreach program, please visit www.mango.org/foodservice. Recipes are available at www.mango.org/recipes.