Challenging mango season continues with optimism

Since the fall, the international mango deal has been struggling to meet U.S. demand as each producing country has seen supplies fall below both expectations and their typical numbers. As such, there has been very strong pricing on both organic and conventional mangos, leading to far fewer promotions.  

As Mexico moves closer to the peak of its season, there is some optimism that the situation will turn around, but that enthusiasm is somewhat muted as this year’s performance is not indicating that will be the case.

Gary Clevenger, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Freska Produce International

Gary Clevenger, managing members for Freska Produce International, Oxnard, CA, one of the largest mango importers in the United States, said the mango market has been operating on a demand-exceeds-supply basis since mid-Fall, especially on the larger sizes. He said there are promotional opportunities for smaller sizes—something that does tend to be favorable for organic mangos. He explained that retailers usually promote smaller sizes of organic mangos as that allows a retail price point that is similar to the promotions used for conventional mangos.

In any case, Clevenger said, the reality is that mangos have been tight and there is no guarantee that this situation is going to change even as supplies shift to the Mexican states of Nayarit and Sinaloa in June and beyond. Both of those more northern production regions typically have larger volumes than Mexico’s southern states, to match the heavy U.S. summer promotion period for both conventional and organic mangos.  

Clevenger added that the El Nino weather patterns seem to have caused lower-than-expected volumes from South and Central American producing countries for the past seven to eight months. And that same El Nino effect seems to be the culprit behind the decreased volume out of southern Mexico this season.

Will that same impact be felt in the northern Mexico producing states? That’s the million-dollar question. 

Clevenger said the industry just has to wait and see if the trees have been impacted adversely or if they will produce the larger fruit that is typical in the summer months. He explained that it takes about 90 days for the blossom to produce fruit that can be picked. It is still too early to know what the result will be in June, July and August.

Nissa Pierson, Marketing, Crespo Organic Mangoes

Nissa Pierson, who handles sales and marketing of the Crespo Organic Mango brand in the United States, said it has been a challenging season with wishful thinking dominating the mango forecast. “All season long, we’ve been hearing that the supply situation is going to get better. That the fruit is coming…and it just hasn’t happened,” she said on May 10.  “We are dealing with a drought and climate conditions that have impacted yields. We keep on expecting it to get better, but it hasn’t.”

She also noted that the situation itself is creating shortages. Pierson reviewed the producing regions of the last several months, including Peru and Ecuador, and noted that when Mexico began its season, the pipeline was empty. Producers have been playing catch-up since February…and they haven’t caught up. She noted that U.S. mango demand is very strong.

Moving forward, Pierson expects that large size fruit will still be at a premium for weeks, and possibly months, to come. 

Speaking specifically about organic mangos, she noted that the state of Michoacan, which is currently in peak production, does not have a lot of organic mangos, so the southern states—mostly Oaxaca—have to fill the gap until production transitions to Nayarit. “Once Nayarit starts, I do think the situation will get better,” she said. “Nayarit has larger pack houses and can produce more fruit.”

That increased volume could help alleviate some of the demand pressure and lead to an FOB pricing situation that is closer to what is traditionally considered normal. Thus far, the larger size fruit (8s and larger)—both organic and conventional—have remained in the double digits. The price would have typically fallen below that level by now, with promotable pricing several dollars below that number.

“Once Nayarit starts, I do think the situation will get better. Nayarit has larger pack houses and can produce more fruit.” - Nissa Pierson

Crespo Organic Mangoes has promoted organic mangos through its “Summer Mango Mania” promotion each year beginning on June 15 and going through July. Some years, for some retailers, the promotion has started as early as June 1, but Pierson indicated that this will be very difficult this year.

On the other hand, she said Crespo, which claims to be the most voluminous organic mango brand marketed in the United States, plans for this promotion every year and it will have promotable fruit for its customers. Crespo works on a program basis rather than the spot market, so the vast majority of its fruit is committed to its retail partners.