Mango season begins the shift to Central America

It's a busy time for the mango season as the market is transitioning across a number of regions. The general movement is North as the South American season matures and volume increases from Central American growing regions. Peru is seeing a peak on a delayed season, while the first shipments from Nicaragua and Mexico are arriving. 

"Right now, we are still shipping Kents out of Peru," said Darrell Genthner of Carbamericas. "Most inbound volume from Peru will be in the next 2 to 3 weeks. As of this week, we are going to start shipments from Nicaragua with Tommys. At the moment, it's only the one container but we will have more volume trickling in over the next 10 days. Right now, this would make Nicaragua about 2 weeks earlier than normal."

"As regards Mexico, we have already received our first Honey Mangoes (Ataulfos)," he continued. "They still have some green color but will turn yellow in a couple of days. We are also seeing the first Hadens out on the market, with sizing mostly in the 10s / 12s. Tommy Atkins are also slowly coming in from this week. Projections are for there to be a lot of large sizes early on the deal. As we move into next month, we will see the crop out of Guatemala coming in around the last week in March or the first week in April."

It was reported last week that Peru is behind on their mango season this year, having shipped considerably less than at this point last year. Colder weather has resulted in the fruit coming into maturity more slowly than expected. However, although volume is down at this point, it means they are coming into a favorable market. With good quality fruit, the market is looking favorable for Peru growers.

"Peru are still down over 5 million cartons from this point last year," Genthner said. "However the shortage of supply means that this scenario should give them a better return than they did last year. Quality continues to improve by the week out of Peru. We are seeing better color and a lower PSI of 8/16lbs (measure of ripeness). The market has been steady with normal FOBs compared to previous seasons. We are seeing smaller mangoes sizes being priced higher versus larger fruit which is normal for this time of year."

It's not just Peru seeing good quality fruit, with the outlook for Central American fruit already showing good signs. "The Honeys are on their 2nd week in the market and they look great with a very clean exterior," Genthner noted. "Nicaraguan fruit always has great color and firmness in the Tom Atkins and we expect similar with the upcoming shipments. The other variety are the Keitts, which are one of the best eating mangoes. They are expected to arrive in the 3rd week of March. We have not heard of any adverse weather conditions in the growing areas of Mexico or Nicaragua, therefore at this point, the outlook is favorable."

Carbamericas announced that they are to expand on their mango inventory, with new additions this year. The first of these will enter the market from India within the next few months. 

"We are very excited to be bringing in the Alphonso Mango from India this spring," Genthner said. "Also, Carbamericas will be introducing the Naomi Mango into our assortment late this fall."

For more information:

Darrell Genthner

Tel: +1 (954) 786-0000