Mexican Mangoes Shipping in Record Volumes

[fruitlovers]

Mexican mangoes shipping in record volumes

Record volumes of Mexican mangoes were crossing into the U.S. in
mid-June, and supplies were expected to remain highly promotable
into July.

The week of June 18, about 3.5 million boxes of mangoes were
expected to ship from Mexico into the U.S., said Chris Ciruli,
partner in Nogales, Ariz.-based grower-shipper Ciruli Bros.

About 3.6 million boxes shipped the week before, Ciruli said.
This is the first season weekly shipments even cracked the
3-million range.

Its peaking right now, and the peak should last into the
first week of July, Ciruli said.

Larry Nienkerk, general manager of Splendid Products, Burlingame,
Calif., said it was unusual for Mexican tommy atkinses and kents
to be peaking at the same time, as they were in mid-June.

It looks like it will be a faster deal, Nienkerk said June
18. Theres a lot of fruit in the pipeline now. The last two
weeks have been the highest of the year by quite a bit.

As of June 15, about 35 million boxes of Mexican mangoes had been
imported, up from 32.4 million last year at the same time, Ciruli
said. Season-end volumes will likely be 10-15% above last
years record volumes.

On June 19, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported prices of
$3.75-4.50 for one-layer flats of tommy atkinses 6-9 from Mexico,
down from $4.50-4.75 last year at the same time.

Markets were weaker in mid-June because of the heavy volumes, but
fruit was moving very briskly, and heavy promotions of small
sizes in the runup to 4th of July were expected to help, Ciruli
said.

William Watson, executive director of the National Mango Board,
Orlando, Fla., agreed.

Theyre flying off shelves, Watson said June 18. Im
not sure if we've seen this many from Mexico before, and its
encouraging. A lot of good fruit is finding a home.

Mexican shippers were doing a good job of shipping fruit that
matched U.S. retailer needs, with much of the smaller fruit
remaining in Mexico, Watson said.

Just as the mid-June volumes were the highest of the year, prices
were the lowest of the year, Nienkerk said. Those conditions will
likely prevail until about the second week of July, when markets
start to strengthen, he said.

Extreme heat and dry conditions expected in the second week of
June should ensure continued high sugars and overall good
quality, Ciruli said.

The yellow mango deals were winding down in mid-June, with tommy
atkinses accounting for 46% of total volumes and kents 25%,
Ciruli said. Those percentages would likely increase in coming
weeks.

Find this article at:
http://www.thepacker.com/fruit-vegetable-enewsletter/packer-daily
/Mexican-mangoes-shipping-in-record-volumes-159776255.html

[Jsvand5]

3.6 million flats of inedible fruit per week. Pretty amzaing numbers.

[Berto]

   Were the mangoes sweet?

[Bananimal]

There will be lots or TA to bait the traps for the mango munching rodents.

[Patrick]

Im sure some of those boxes are filled with more than mangoes!

[Tropicdude]

I like Kents, I'm surprised they still export a lot of those because of their lower shelf lives compared to other varieties.

This goes to show that people are opening up to mangoes in the US, and may someday become as common as bananas on peoples fruit rack,  To bad that for many, their first mango experience may be a bland imported T. Atkins.  I was just thinking about this today while visiting a supermarket, on one side there were these big colorful Tommys, on the other side, big green Keitts.  I thought if I was going to try a mango for the first time and didn't know anything about them, which one would I pick.

Thanks for the report, I am always interested in the "industry" aspect of ,mangoes ..

[desimango]

I just picked up the smaller and larger Kent varieties and both beared good to very good fruit.  4.99 for a box of 9 smaller Kents.  There's another variety that was labeled Kent but clearly wasn't due to some fibrous eating.  It has more reds and yellows whereas Kent tends to be mainly green. 

[Tropicdude]

I just picked up the smaller and larger Kent varieties and both beared good to very good fruit.  4.99 for a box of 9 smaller Kents.  There's another variety that was labeled Kent but clearly wasn't due to some fibrous eating.  It has more reds and yellows whereas Kent tends to be mainly green.

That one was probably a Tommy Atkins.

[bradflorida]

Not good for the remaining Florida growers.

Brad