Mango supplies are steadily arriving out of both Brazil and Ecuador currently. “They’re plentiful, especially on smaller fruit--10s and 12s. Large fruit is very tight--6, 7s and 8s and some 9s,” says Gary Clevenger of Freska Produce, adding it’s Tommy Atkins and Ataulfo mangoes out of Ecuador and mostly Tommy Atkins out of Brazil.
Harvesting Ataulfo out of Peru.
Clevenger notes that the crop sizes are fairly similar to last year. However, the season began when Europe was in a bit of a slump on pricing so some fruit was being diverted to the U.S. “Now that seems to have changed a little bit,” he says. “The market there is getting better so I think more fruit will be diverted back over there rather than being sent to the U.S.” He adds that as far as supplies for the U.S., there are a few sourcing regions at hand. “We have options now to go to other places when the market gets a little better. Mexico is totally out of the way in the U.S. so it’s up to what’s left out of Brazil and the continuation of the Ecuadorian program that will probably last through the end of the year.”
Yet, there could be delays in shipping from both Brazil and Ecuador ahead due to political issues. “Or they could just ship less because they’re not able to get out as much with what’s going on,” Clevenger says.
The Thanksgiving factor
As for demand, it’s beginning to pick up with ad activity starting up. “People were still on Mexican fruit and now they’ve switched 100 percent to either Brazil or Ecuador,” he says. However, at this time of the year, the produce aisles are increasingly more focused on Thanksgiving items which can slow demand for mangoes. “But as it gets towards the end of the year, things pick up. Especially in the New Year when people start their diets off with wanting to eat healthy again so things get busy again.”
There could be delays in shipping from both Brazil and Ecuador ahead due to political issues.
Overall, pricing on mangoes is fairly similar to last year. “This even with the added costs on the grower side for shipping--logistics costs have almost doubled since last year,” Clevenger says, noting that pricing will likely stay where it’s at for the time being.
Looking ahead, Peruvian mangoes will come into the market starting late November-early December but will probably peak in supplies in late January-early February on a normal to slightly bigger crop. Mexico will start again in January with Ataulfos and then red mangoes in the middle of February.
For more information:
Gary Clevenger
Freska Produce
Tel: +1 (805) 650-1040
Gary@FreskaProduce.com
www.freskaproduce.com