The mango season in Michoacan, Mexico is wrapping up while production is peaking in Nayarit and El Rosario. "There will be heavy volume through the end of June, then supplies for the Champagne® mango will taper and remain steady through August," says Chris Ciruli, chief operating officer for Ciruli Brothers, LLC, adding that other than the lack of rain, growing conditions have been favorable with high heat which typically yields very sweet and great tasting fruit. "June is a great time for promotions because there is ample volume from multiple growing locations."
As for the timing of the season from Mexico, it began in mid to late February, but it was slower than usual due to weather conditions. "Volume picked up in mid-March and remained steady in the southernmost regions of Oaxaca and Chiapas, which ended about a month ago," says Ciruli. "As the mango deal has moved north to the regions of Tepic, Tecuala, and El Rosario, we have seen steady volume which has marked a solid production peak in June."
The company expects to transition to northern Sinaloa by the last week of June where it will continue shipping yellow Ataulfo mangos, which it markets as Champagne due to its quality standards. "From the Los Mochis area, we expect a good crop of red and green varieties, starting with Kent mangos and ending the Mexican season with Keitt. Both are very flavorful and delicious varieties," says Ciruli, adding that it markets its round mangos in the Mr. Mango®, Super Mango®, and Señor® mango brand names. It also expects to hit another production peak for round mango varieties in Los Mochis from mid-July through the end of August.
Overall on supply, he adds that it has surpassed season 2024 actuals and hopes to finish the 2025 season strong through July and August.
Part of the Ciruli Brothers team.
Mango demand patterns
As for demand, it tends to be very favorable in the first quarter because there are not a lot of fruit options available to consumers. "During the second and third quarters, this changes. There are more fruit options which forces mangoes to compete with other items in terms of pricing and quality," says Ciruli.
Overall though, per capita consumption remains fairly low at just a few mangos per year. "We feel that there is ample opportunity to build demand and increase consumption of fresh mangos with more variety or consumer packs," says Ciruli. "There is also generally more fruit available with rising imports, so there is an inherent increase in consumption as fruit availability increases."
That said, there are challenges in helping boost that consumption rate throughout the mango industry. Among them is maintaining the proper temperature control points across the supply chain, which is critical to maintaining good quality and flavor for the consumer. "Another challenge is in getting retailers to allocate enough space on display. To move more volume, mangos need to be front and center, not restricted to the typical tropical display at the back of the produce department," adds Ciruli.
That said, the changing consumer demographics have helped demand grow, particularly given the fruit is particularly popular with Asian and Latino demographics which historically have consumed mangos most.
The company expects to transition to northern Sinaloa by the last week of June where it will continue shipping yellow Ataulfo mangos, which it markets as Champagne.
Pricing and costs
So where is this leaving pricing? "The industry has faced tremendous production cost increases over the past few years, but pricing has remained largely unchanged," says Circuli, adding that among the biggest cost drivers are rising wages. "Mexico has had back-to-back increases in the federal minimum wage. Same in Arizona where we are based. Our supply chain costs have also increased from transportation to packaging. Despite the higher operating and production costs, the transfer of these higher costs to consumers has been far less than what the growers and distributors have absorbed. The best you can hope for is for pricing to remain the same or slightly higher than last year's to help our growers offset inflationary pressure."
He does note that one of the biggest challenges in Mexico is the ability to work overtime hours during mango season. "The number of hours we can pack affects our productivity in the packing sheds and our costs," he says, adding that there is a pilot program in effect now with the USDA that is allowing certain packinghouses to work overtime in planned increments with two USDA inspectors. "We hope that this will allow us to continue packing, especially when we are flushed with volume."
However, other importing countries have been operating in much the same way as the Mexican packing facilities since 1986. "With the cooperation of USDA and foreign governments, the industry needs to modernize to become more efficient. Modernization and newer technology not only help improve productivity, but it can pave the way for the USDA to conduct more effective and efficient monitoring activities," says Ciruli. "This will take time and industry collaboration with our regulatory officials."
For more information:
Christopher Ciruli
Ciruli Brothers
Tel: +1 (520) 281-9696
https://cirulibrothers.com/