Volume 4 | Issue 5 | May 2009 en español |
|||||||||||||||||
|
While our marketing programs are working for the mango industry all year long, we anticipate summer's higher volume by increasing the intensity of retail promotions and consumer marketing programs. This issue of the Mango Connection includes some great articles about what's happening right now in the world of mango marketing. Click on any underlined text to get more information about that item.
For the second year, the NMB is celebrating Mango Month this June with outstanding coverage for mangos in several national magazines and a TV segment featuring Ingrid Hoffmann that will be aired across the country. Check out this mango article in Coastal Living to see an example of the type of coverage we've secured. Other national magazines featuring Mango this June include Bon Appetit, Ladies' Home Journal, Family Circle, Every Day with Rachael Ray, Woman's Day, Prevention and Women's Health. Our Mango Month video will appear on TV stations across the nation throughout June, and it's featured on our Web site. Check out Ingrid's demonstration of her Mango Mahi Tostada, and notice how she takes time to teach viewers about ripening and cutting mangos before starting to cook. Mango Month is a great way to kick off a summer of mangos and get consumers thinking of all the exciting ways they can use this versatile fruit throughout the season.
The National Mango Board is participating in a summer promotion with Sodexo Inc., the leading provider of integrated food and facilities management services in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, serving 10 million customers in 6,000 locations every day. When we first spoke to representatives of Sodexo early in 2008, they loved the idea of using mangos on their menu, but they believed that mangos would be too difficult to handle and that the yield would be too low for their needs. The National Mango Board completed yield and cutting studies in 2008, and the results helped change Sodexo's ideas about mangos. In August of 2008 representatives from Sodexo visited with Chef Allen during the National Mango Board's Day with Chef Allen program to learn creative ways to use mangos in a variety of dishes. Since then Sodexo has been working to develop, photograph and promote the mango dishes for our summer promotion. Our arrangement originally promised the use of fresh mangos in 4 mango recipes served at 1,200 locations. This has grown to 6 recipes and 2,000 locations. Click on the links below to see the point of sale material used to promote each dish: Grilled Fish Tacos Mango Chicken Chop Salad Mango and Avocado Chicken Ciabetta Mango Shrimp Salad Croissant Thai Shrimp and California Avocado Salad Tropical Fruit Salad Cup
The NMB has updated the Mango Market Development Index Report, a tool that can help you and your retailers better understand the U.S. mango market. It includes measurements for the 9 U.S. census regions and for 48 ScanTrack markets. The report boils mango purchasing behavior down to a single number that indicates if that region or market is over-performing or under-performing in mango sales, relative to that area's population. The average for the total U.S. is 100, with an index of 120 or higher considered to be a strong mango market and an index of 80 or lower considered to be a weak mango market. The NMB uses this information in our work with retailers to identify where the greatest intensity of mango purchasing can be found and to identify the strongest growth opportunities for the future. In particular, we look for weak retail performance in a strong mango market, which indicates that this retailer has a great opportunity to increase their mango movement. Check out the report and share it with your retailers. They will appreciate you bringing this resource to their desk.
Based on our work with a research team made up of post-harvest experts from the University of Florida and the University of California-Davis, the NMB has developed two reference sheets to help retailers improve their mango receiving and handling along with their general mango knowledge. This is another resource that you can share with your retail partners. Our team of regional Retail Account Managers is currently sharing these with retailers across the country, but they can't see it too many times. The two reference sheets include a general Mango Handling Practices reference sheet, as well as a Maturity/Quality/Ripeness reference sheet designed for receiving and QC associates.
The nominations process for new board members is moving forward right on schedule. According to the rules outlined in our order, we must narrow the field of nominees to 2 names per position for the U.S.-based positions. The NMB has sent out ballots so that industry members can select the two nominees for each position. Ballots have been sent out and are due back at the NMB's office on May 29th, the publication date of this Mango Connection. Once the ballots are tallied, two names per position will be presented to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture for a final decision and appointment of the new board members. The following nominees were included on their respective ballots: Importers District I - two positions First Handlers - one position For the domestic producer position we received only one nomination, so no ballots were sent: Domestic Producers - one position Nominations for the foreign producer positions are handled a little differently. The nominations come directly from the foreign mango organizations in each country and they are all sent to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture for a final selection. Foreign Producers - two positions
Fresh Americas, April 2009, Exotic Corner: Francis Mango The Packer Online, May 8 2009, National Mango Board sets outreach meeting for June. The Packer Online, May 20 2009, Mango Board plans more online outreach Fresh Plaza, May 20 2009, Mango Board Excels at Online Editorial Outreach and Social Media Produce Business, May 2009, NMB Expands Online Marketing Efforts Produce Business, May 2009, The Challenges And Opportunities Of Mango Merchandising Produce Business, May 2009, Build Big Displays
The National Mango Board coordinates with key supplier countries to bring you a forecast of the expected mango volumes. The Crop Forecast document provides the forecast, recent volume history and a comparison to last year. Recent pricing history helps to tell another part of the story. Click here for the latest Mango Crop Forecast. Please note - if you visit the crop forecast frequently, you might find that you need to refresh your page to see the newest crop forecast. This is because the older version is saved your computer's cache. A click on "refresh page" or "reload page" should bring up the newest crop forecast document.
The National Mango Board will meet with mango industry members in Teaneck, NJ on June 2nd. The next stop for the industry outreach meeting tour is Juazeiro, Bahia Brazil on July 17th. These meetings are designed to share information about marketing, research and industry relations programs developed by the National Mango Board to serve the mango industry. Detailed information is posted in the calendar section of mango.org.
The NMB's next board meeting will take place in Los Mochis, Mexico during the week of September 7, 2009. Check out the calendar section for more details. 
| |
|||||||||||||||