Volume 4 | Issue 6 | June 2009 en español |
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Summer is heating up and so are our marketing, research and industry relations programs designed to benefit the mango industry and drive mango consumption in the U.S. Click on any underlined text to get more information about that item.
We often hear from mango industry members that it's so important to reach kids and introduce them to the amazing fun flavor of mangos. Not only do kids have a huge influence over what their moms buy, but they are tomorrow's shoppers. For the second year, our Rising Mango Star Video Contest is spreading the mango mania and asking aspiring young chefs to develop their own mango recipe. To enter the contest, they will submit the recipe along with a video of them preparing their mango masterpiece. We've spread the word about the contest by working with summer camps, cooking schools, food writers and bloggers. The NMB will select 3 finalists to fly to Hollywood and participate in the Rising Mango Star cook off, where our own Chef Allen Susser "The Mango Man" will be one of 3 judges who will choose the grand prize winner. For more details about the contest and to see some of the early entry videos, check out www.mango.org/risingstar.
Each quarter, we provide an updated report of our retail promotions activity and results. Click here for our first report of 2009 and you'll see that 14 retail promotions have been finalized so far this year. The report doesn't tell the whole story, which is that over 50 retail promotions were committed for the first and second quarter of 2009. There is always a lag time as we wait for the retailers to provide the NMB with proof of performance, which is required before we pay for any promotion. When you see this report updated again in approximately 3 months, there will be many more promotions listed for the first and second quarters. We use a quarterly allocations plan based on a 3-year history of mango volumes to determine how much to invest in retail promotions each quarter. This plan helps to ensure that promotions are spread out through the year, with each country and growing region getting their fair share of retail promotional support from the NMB. In addition to spreading the funds throughout the year, we also spread the funds across the country to ensure that all importers have a good opportunity to benefit from these retail promotional efforts.
The nominations process for new board members is moving forward right on schedule. For the domestic positions, the field of nominees has been narrowed to two names per position based on ballots received from the mango industry. Nomination packets from the following industry members will be presented to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture for a final decision and appointment of the new board members. Importers District I - two positions First Handlers - one position Domestic Producers - one position (Only one nomination was received) Nominations for the foreign producer positions are handled a little differently. The nominations come directly from the foreign mango organizations in each country. Each organization had the opportunity to submit two nominees per available position. Nomination packets from each of these producers will be presented to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture for the selection and appointment of new board members. Foreign Producers - two positions The nominations and appointment process is outlined in our order and a simplified description of the process is also available.
Data Export Centroamericana, April 2009, La National Mango Board promueve el consumo en Estados Unidos Fresh Plaza, June 5 2009, Availability of Most Mango Varieties in Stores Encourages Consumer Promotion The Produce News, June 8 2009, Early Mexican imports exceed expectations, but lighter June-July expected The Produce News, June 8 2009, National Mango Board promotes June as mango month The Produce News, June 8 2009, Retail tools developed for mango promotions The Produce News, June 8 2009, New Jersey the site of NMB outreach meeting
This information has been published in the Mango Connection several times - most recently in the March issue - so this is merely a reminder of the PLU codes for mangos. Several new PLU codes for mangos have been added over the past few years and the NMB wants to ensure that all retailers and mango industry members are aware of these codes. The most recent addition is PLU 3114 for Keitt Mango size 7 and larger. After extensive research the NMB successfully applied for this new PLU code to accommodate these extra-large Keitt mangos coming out of Mexico. Several large retailers were trying to establish a 2-size Keitt program and were unable to manage these transactions without a unique PLU code for the extra large fruit. 
The NMB is sharing this information with retailers across the U.S. to ensure they have the most up-to-date information about mango PLU codes. Our goal is that everyone is making decisions using the same set of guidelines, so we've created a PLU codes flyer to help spread the word. It's very important that you communicate with your retail customers before starting to use a new or different PLU code. Just because a new code is entered into the PLU codes database doesn't mean every retailer will be prepared to use the new code. You will want to be sure they are set up to accept the code in their system before shipping fruit with a new PLU code.
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 Juazeiro, Bahia, Brazil on July 17th. The next stops for the industry outreach meeting tour include Rio Rico, AZ on August 4th and Los Angeles, CA on August 6th.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 Las Vegas, NV during the week of September 7, 2009. Check out the calendar section for more details. 
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