Volume 3 | Issue 6 | June 2008 en español |
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Welcome to the Mango Connection – your source for news about the National Mango Board. If this message was forwarded to you, please click here to subscribe so we can reach you directly in the future. Click on any underlined text to get more information about that item.
We’re proud to introduce our brand new Mango Marketing Toolkit – a central location for all of our marketing tools, such as photos, POS materials, logos, nutrition information and much much more. The Mango Marketing Toolkit was designed to be a one-stop resource for retailers, mango industry members and the media to easily find the images and messages you need to pump up your mango volume. Click here to download a PDF version of the Mango Marketing Toolkit and click here to see it on our web site.
The results of our 2008 retail promotions are beginning to flow in. In addition to funding promotions with retailers, our Retail Account Managers work with retailers to help them grow their mango business by using POS materials, category management resources and other tools. Click here to see the current Retail Results Report.
You can now sign up to receive our crop forecast alert email. This will be a short, simple email that you’ll receive each time we update the crop forecast on our web site. Click here to sign up to receive the new crop forecast alert email. Check out the most recent Mango Crop Forecast, which is updated whenever we receive new information from any of the top producing countries for U.S. mango imports. The current forecast includes information about Mexico and Haiti.
The research committee recently approved four new projects:
Keeping mangos on TV, in magazines and newspapers and on the internet adds up to increased awareness and demand for mangos. Our consumer marketing program is designed to reach those goals, and you can see our results at any time in our consumer marketing results tracker. The consumer marketing results tracker is updated monthly and you can click here to see the newest version. This document covers our progress so far this year and we’ve already reached consumers over 200 million times with mango messages! It would have cost nearly $6 million to purchase this space and time as advertising. The document is long and may have more detail than you want to see. If so, check out just the first 3 pages, which provide a summary of all of the results. In just a few minutes you can see an overview and return-on-investment measurements of our consumer marketing programs from these 3 pages.
Nearly three years ago, a representative of the NMB met with Joanne Chen of O, The Oprah Magazine. Since then, we have maintained contact with her, urging her to write about her family’s connection with mangos. All this attention paid off with a 3-page article focused on Joanne’s father and his passion for mangos. This highly-respected publication has a circulation of over 2.4 million copies. If we had purchased this same space as advertising, it would have cost the mango industry over $775,000. This is just one example of the great coverage that’s pouring for mangos.
Our very own Jango Mango has made appearances at two U.S. Youth Soccer regional tournaments this month. In Raleigh, North Carolina and in Portland, Maine, Jango was on hand to greet the soccer players and get them pumped up about mangos. Yummy mango samples were a big hit at each event, and lots of moms and dads stopped by our booth to learn about how to choose, ripen and cut mangos. So many people told us they have never tasted a mango before, but they plan to buy them now after learning how good they taste. The events were a great opportunity to make a direct connection with these families. Click here to check out some photos taken at the North Carolina event. Just click on any of the group numbers to see the photos.
In our efforts to get more foodservice operators to include fresh mangos on their menus, we often hear concerns about yield. They want to know how much mango flesh they can get from each whole mango. The NMB selected Mattson, the largest independent developer of new products for the food and beverage industry, to answer this question. Matton’s report shows the average fruit yield for the familiar Tommy Atkins variety from a 9-count or 12-count case to be 61%. The Ataulfo variety yields 71% fresh mango on average. The high fruit to seed ratio is good news for operators who plan to include fresh mango on their menu.
In an effort to reach U.S. consumers in all their culinary experiences, we are working with the foodservice industry to reach more chefs and foodservice operators. Some consumers who might not buy mangos from their local grocery store might be willing to try them in a dish at their favorite restaurant. This translates into higher mango movement to foodservice today. In addition, food trends often start with foodservice, so our efforts can drive higher mango movement among consumers in the future. Our foodservice marketing program has three key areas; Public Relations and Editorial, Chain Activities and Industry Events. Click here to see the 2008 Foodservice Public Relations and Editorial Results Tracker. Through this part of the program we have reached more than 1.5 million foodservice industry members with mango messages. If we had purchased this space as advertising, it would have cost more than $40,000.
We work with the writers and editors of the various produce and grocery industry trade publications, such as the Produce News and The Packer. Through these efforts, we have seen a sharp increase in the number and size of mango-related articles appearing in these publications. These articles are a great way for us to reach retailers, and keep mangos on their minds. Through trade media publicity we have reached over 600,000 members of the produce with our mango messages. If purchased as advertising, this coverage would have cost more than $80,000. Click here to see the 2008 Trade Media Results Tracker.
The NMB is currently in the nomination and appointment process for the following positions: 3 importers, 1 domestic producer and 2 foreign producers. Terms will begin in January, 2009. Below is the list of nominees that will be sent to the USDA Secretary of Agriculture for the final appointments. Click here to see an overview of the nominations and appointment process.
Brazil - IBRAF/VALEXPORT
Ecuador - Fundacion Mango del Ecuador
Guatemala - AGEXPORT
Mexico - CONPROMANGO
Mexico - EMEX
Peru - APEM
The National Mango Board met with mango industry members in the New York/New Jersey/Pennsylvania area on June 19th to share details about our 2008 programs and results so far. Meetings in Guatemala in Brazil are scheduled for July 9th and 25th respectively. Detailed information is posted in the calendar section of mango.org.
The NMB’s next board meeting will take place the week of September 22nd in Dallas, Texas. Please check the calendar section of mango.org for more details. 
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