Mango supplies out of Peru have been abundant, especially larger sizes of the Kent variety. “Size 10’s and 12’s are a bit scarce but we have plenty of 6’s through 9’s,” says Albert Perez with Continental Fresh. The company has been receiving Peruvian mangos since early December.
Compared to last year, prices are lower this season, which Perez attributes to larger volumes coming to the US at a time of weaker demand. “In December, there was quite a bit of volume coming in from Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru. This combined with adverse weather conditions in the US and common logistical issues during the holidays, resulted in some very weak markets.” Towards the end of the year, three million cases were imported into the US in one week. “The European markets are also having their struggles, causing some of the volume that would usually go there to come to the US,” added Perez.
Political unrest
Although supplies were high in December, they have been quite inconsistent this season. “The political unrest in Peru has wreaked havoc on the consistency of supplies.” The typical work stoppages during the holidays added another challenge. Altogether, last year’s season witnessed more leveled supplies and stronger prices.
Although weekly volumes have decreased in recent weeks due to the seasons in Brazil and Ecuador coming to an end, the market has still been trying to clean inventories and level prices up. “Current pricing has been extremely low for quite some time,” said Perez. “The current markets definitely do not cover many of the costs involved with importing mangos. Unfortunately, this season will go in the books as one of the poorest seasons for Peruvian mangos in recent years.”
Clean water
Part of Continental Fresh’s produce is specialty labeled under the Water For All label. A percentage of proceeds of every box is donated to BLUE Missions to fund clean water and sanitation projects in Latin America. In addition to mangos, the company is currently importing Water For All cucumbers as well as butternut squash from Honduras. Butternut squash is available in retail packs as well as bins for processing. “We are also getting ready to start our Water For All mango program from Mexico,” commented Perez. Supplies of red mango varieties are expected to start towards the end of February and the season will run all the way through September.
For more information:
Albert Perez
Continental Fresh
Tel: +1 (305) 860-9611
albert@continentalfresh.com
www.continentalfresh.com