A good pull is expected on Mexican mangoes for both Easter and Cinco de Mayo–two dates retailers like to focus on for mango movement. "We're only harvesting yellow mangoes (Ataulfo) right now so the growing conditions have been very, very dry and very, very warm. That's exactly what you want to see in March," says Chris Ciruli, chief operating officer for Ciruli Brothers, LLC, adding that both hot and dry weather with no rain boosts fruit quality. "This is the opposite of what we had last March."
© Ciruli Brothers, LLC
L-R: Irma Coronado, Samuel Ciruli, Chris Ciruli, Bernie Pina
This follows a February that also saw better mango supply from Mexico compared to February 2025. This year, the first flower was stronger and produced more fruit than last year.
That said, it's still early in March and growers are awaiting the second flower, which is expected to come off approximately March 17th-18th. "Then we'll get into a better harvest," says Ciruli. "There's just a slight pull back for maybe two weeks on the market where we're not seeing as much yellow fruit that we normally see in March. We expect to come out of that dip around the 17-18th of March. Then it looks like a very good run from then until Easter in early April, so a very good future for the back part of March."
Meanwhile round mangoes are expected to come on slightly later–likely the middle of April or right after Easter they should pick up in volume.
© Ciruli Brothers, LLC"We're only harvesting yellow mangoes (Ataulfo) right now so the growing conditions have been very, very dry and very, very warm. That's exactly what you want to see in March," says Chris Ciruli.
Weather and mango demand
As for demand, it's been challenging given the cold temperatures across the U.S. last month. "It's hard to sell a lot of mangoes when it's cold. As soon as we start to see a crack in the weather, sales should pick up and hopefully the volume will pick up as well," says Ciruli.
That's made pricing very challenging in both February and this month. While freight prices were already elevated, they've continued to increase following the start of the war in Iran. "Since then we've seen a step up in both diesel and regular gas last week and I imagine that's only going to get harder as we go forward in March. Transportation has been more expensive than in June 2025," says Ciruli.
© Ciruli Brothers, LLC
The company ships yellow Ataulfo mangos, which it markets as Champagne.
This comes as retailers have been trying to keep prices flat. "Everyone's very, very sensitive to tariffs and inflation and everyone's trying to give the consumer the confidence that they're paying close to what they paid last year. That makes it a difficult pricing situation," says Ciruli.
Looking ahead, Ciruli believes the round mango deal will see some challenges, following what's expected to be a quick end to the Peruvian mango season. The round market is in a higher FOB situation than it was last year and the volume will be challenging until shortly after the Easter holiday.
Even further ahead, growers and shippers in Mexico are keeping an eye on the flowering of upcoming crops. "Flowering on yellow mangos seems to be very strong going forward for the crop movement in April and May," says Ciruli. "Moving north, there are some challenges on the flowers for round mangoes. It's not staying as consistent as yellow mangoes which has to do with how hot it gets and if you have cool nights. So we're seeing some irregular flowers that will probably come into play in May and June."
For more information:
Christopher Ciruli
Ciruli Brothers
Tel: +1 (520) 281-9696
https://cirulibrothers.com/
