“Interesting Mexican mango season could see a short-term supply gap”

“The founding of our company 17 years ago was based on one Brazilian grower who needed to find a trustworthy distributor for his mangoes,” says Greg Golden, partner of Amazon Produce. “My friend Gilmar and I decided to write a business plan as a project in an MBA class, and as a result we started a company.” Less than two decades later, Amazon Produce has become the biggest year-round importer of mangoes into the United States. “All growing regions combined, we import more than 17 million boxes on an annual basis,” shared Golden.

Today, mangoes are sourced in Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Guatemala, Ecuador and Nicaragua. “It all started with Brazil, at the time, and we have been able to expand by grower referral and customer satisfaction,” Golden said. “The creation of our company was based on integrity, transparency, and performance and that’s how we are still known today. Fulfilling commitments and being loyal to our customers has driven our business.” 

This time of the year, Amazon Produce gets all its mangos from Mexico until Brazil starts packing early August. “It is an interesting Mexican season,” shared Golden. The season started early with record-breaking volumes during the first ten weeks. Since then, it has become harder to predict. While volumes in the past five weeks should have gone up, they have stayed steady instead. “When I say steady, I mean drastically less than what they should have been according to the projections. About a million boxes less per week. Volume projections have consistently been off for the past month, which makes it really difficult for us to do our jobs,” Golden added. 

Golden believes volumes are not ramping up the way they normally do because of large delays in Nayarit and Sinaloa. Cold weather and the abortion of some of the early bloom has caused production in these regions to be delayed. “This time of the year, we are used to seeing 3.5 million boxes per week coming out of Mexico, but last week we were on track for 2.5 million boxes. Mexico’s southern production regions are on their way out and it will take another three weeks for Nayarit and Sinaloa to start producing, so I am really concerned about the next two to three weeks,” mentioned Golden. “We may see a short-term supply gap until volumes are above three million boxes a week by mid-June. Three million boxes per week with a good distribution of sizes is healthy for this time of the year.” 

Golden sees a huge opportunity to further increase mango consumption in North America. “There is a big lack of education on the consumer end and mango consumption growth is staying behind as a result,” he said. “If we can get consumers to become aware of varieties, like with apples, I see huge opportunities for consumption to go up.” People who grew up eating mangoes, tend to have more knowledge, but the average consumer is not aware of the difference in varieties. “We need retailers to become proponents of multiple varieties.” One thing consumer research proves is that consumers prefer mangoes with a fiberless flesh texture over mangos with a fiberous texture. “There is a trend towards fiberless varieties as a result of consumer preference and this is causing growers to move away from the Tommy Atkins variety.”

During the summer months, Golden sees an opportunity to sell more organically grown mangoes. “Organic supplies are abundant in the months of June and July and they are available for a small price premium,” he explained. “The mark-up is about 20 percent.” Supplies of organic mangos are higher than demand during the summer. “Limited demand for organic mangos can be attributed to the location and the size of the organic mango displays at the retail level. Additionally, some retail outlets do not have a PLU code set up for organic mangos.”

For more information:

Greg Golden

Tel: 856-442-0410