Thanks in part to supplies from Peru, pricing for mangoes is down this season.
“There’s a lot of fruit coming in from Peru—about a 60 percent larger crop so they should be shipping through to the middle of March,” says Jesse Garcia of LA Produce Distributors in Los Angeles, Cal. “They had a bumper crop this year. Last year it was a really tight market with good pricing and this year there’s some sloppy pricing. It flip flops every year.”
As Peru begins to lighten up on shipments later this month, Guatemala will begin exporting red mangoes on top of the yellow mangoes it is already shipping. “We should get some red fruit in good volume from Guatemala before the end of the month,” says Garcia. On top of that, Mexico, who is already shipping yellow fruit, will begin shipping red as well in April-May.
Jesse Garcia of LA Produce Distributors.
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Demand meanwhile looks good for mangoes. “But when there’s a glut of supplies, demand won’t look as high but it is there,” says Garcia. “With so much more fruit this year, especially out of Peru, it was hard to move it—we had to put promotions out.”
In turn, that’s pressed pricing on mangoes. Garcia estimates prices are between $1-$1.50 cheaper than last year at this time.
Looking ahead though, Guatemala should finish up near the end of May to minimize competing directly with the Mexican season. “And once Peru stops shipping, the market will get a bit better on red fruit. We’ll begin Tommy Atkins mangoes out of Guatemala and that may bump up pricing between $1-$1.50,” says Garcia, noting it should stay at that level until Guatemala gets into its heavy shipments. “And then we might start seeing a dip again. But before the end of this month, we should see a bit of a rise in the pricing.”
For more information:
Jesse Garcia
LA Produce Distributors
Tel: +1 (562) 448-5555
jgarcia@laproducedistributors.com
www.laproducedistributors.com