According to the Peruvian Ocex in New York, Peru sent almost 15,000 tons of fresh mango to the United States in January and more than 20,000 tons in February, thus surpassing Mexico, which is that market's main supplier of mango, in those months.
Mango industry value has doubled in the last 10 years, from $262 million in 2005 to $523 million in 2016. Manuel Michel is the Executive Director of the National Mango Board (NMB).
The mango has become quite popular for several reasons. It is present in the market all year, there is an increasing emigration of Asian and Latin American people, which are great consumers of this fruit, to the US; in addition the North American public is interested in trying new tastes and eating fresh and healthy products. Consumption of this fruit has also increased thanks to the persistent work of organizations such as NMB.
The NMB, for example, has achieved very high impact campaigns in association with celebrities such as Ayesha Curry, and food blogger partners. Additionally, the NMB has performed sampling events at Solstice Time Square and Maker Faire (San Francisco and Milwaukee).
This has allowed them to position this fruit during massive events and to make tastings for many people in the country.
The United States mainly imports its fresh mango from Peru between December and March, but the country also has frozen mango, processed mango, and mango juice.
According to Fresh Plaza, Peru is the second most important exporter of fresh mangoes to the United States after Mexico, and it is followed by Ecuador, Brazil, Guatemala, and Haiti.
During the 2017 harvest (January-March), Peru exported 150,000 tons, i.e. 20% more than in the 2015-2016 season, a new record according to Fresh Plaza's article,Peru: Historic Export Record. This was due to the increase in rainfall and to a good harvest.
In January the country exported almost 15,000 tons of mango to the US and in February it sent more than 20,000 tons, surpassing Mexico in those months, as it only exported 390 tons in January and 8.5 tons in February.
Peru and Mexico also have an important participation in frozen mango exports to the US, a country that imported more than 139 million pounds of frozen mango in 2016. This presentation is becoming more and more popular as it is very easy to consume, the fruit is already peeled, has been cut into cubes, and doesn't have a seed.
The consumption of this presentation is enhanced as it can be used to prepare home-made smoothies, a trend that has become very popular in the US. In addition, the mango can be combined with other Peruvian Super Foods, such as maca, cocoa powder, or lucuma to make said smoothies.
The processed mango and the dehydrated mango categories are also becoming more popular.
The most thoughtful presentations want to sell a gourmet product and, according to the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center, some of them can cost up to US $ 8.5 a pound.
The mango's flavor is starting to be very well appreciated, as in the case of Trader Joe's, a natural supermarket chain that has more than 20 products that use mango as an ingredient. 2016 has also been the best year for dehydrated mango, according to the United Sates Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service.
Peru has a large production of mangoes especially on the north coast and, according to Promperu, the last El Niño phenomenon only affected a little more than 10% of the plantations.
During the Summer Fancy Food Fair in New York, producers presented glass containers with large pieces of value-added mango, which aroused the interest of several importers.
There are even some grilled mango and pineapple presentations that give the fruit an additional smoky flavor, stated Peru's Ocex in New York.
