Happy New Year! As we put last year behind us and head into a new mango decade, change continues to be our best driver to success. Through elections, we experience change in our government every two years or so. We adapt to it and move on. We see change drive our business every day and if we don’t make the appropriate adjustments, we pay the consequences. In many cases, change can be hard to accept and sometimes expensive to implement. Even when change is inevitable, it’s not adapting to it, but how we adapt to it that separates us from others.

Change is the centerpiece of what we are attempting to do at the National Mango Board; we are changing U.S. consumers’ minds about mangos. You will see and hear about how this is happening throughout the year; in the Mango Connection, on www.mango.org, via outreach webinars and in meetings. Convincing consumers to change their minds about mangos takes time, commitment, creativity, patience and a little luck. From where I sit, it looks like we are making progress on this front, however I am keenly aware that you may perceive NMB progress differently.

The NMB changes to meet the demands of you, our shareholders. There are times when mango suppliers have opportunities to change how they do business, in an effort to complement the NMB’s mission. Like you, if the NMB doesn’t continue to evolve, the consumers we’re trying to affect may choose to limit their mango purchases. So evolve, we will. And with your continued support and cooperation, together we will make positive change in the minds of consumers.

If there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that nothing stays the same. Change can be our salvation or lead to our downfall; many times the outcome depends on how we choose to embrace it. In partnership, I believe we can harness the power of change for our collective benefit as we kick off the new mango decade.

Genuinely,
William Watson, NMB Executive Director

  Haiti Earthquake Disaster

Our wishes and prayers go out to our friends in Haiti and those who support them here in the U.S. It is hard to imagine the hardships that you are experiencing and please know you are not alone. Please consider the following agencies when making donations to help in the relief effort:

• American Red Cross – www.redcross.org
• Direct Relief International – www.directrelief.org
• CARE – www.care.org

As well, if you are aware of other sites and/or donation opportunities, please let us know and we will pass the word along to the industry.

  Mangos Make Big News With Nutrition Research
  Results

Recently, an article was published in AgriLife News about Dr. Suzanne Talcott of Texas A&M University’s research on mangos and cancer cells. Dr. Talcott studied the impact of mango on many different types of cancer cells. Click here to see the article.

The article was quickly picked up by more than a dozen news sources, including the CBS News web site.

This research was funded by the National Mango Board and is an important preliminary step toward strengthening our mango nutrition message. For more detailed information about the study, click to see the executive summary and the full report from the research team.

Based on these positive preliminary results, the NMB has funded a human study to further our understanding of the impact of mango consumption on colon cancer in the body. Stay tuned for more exciting news about the ongoing mango nutrition research being conducted to benefit the mango industry.

  NMB Tools Available For You

Did you know that the NMB has clear, crisp line drawings showing how to cut a mango? This artwork is available to all mango industry members, and it’s ideal for situations where full-color photographs just won’t work. Why not add this how-to-cut artwork to your next mango box design? Click here to download the artwork, and check out our POS and Graphics page for access to lots of artwork, photos, marketing messages, nutrition info and more.

When you design new PLU stickers, please add www.mango.org if possible. By sending consumers to the National Mango Board’s web site, you are introducing them to in-depth information about recipes, cutting, ripening, nutrition and so much more.

  National Mango Board In The News

AmericaFruit, January 1, Fresh Bites

AmericaFruit, January 1, Ecuador puts spotlight firmly on quality as volume recovers

The Packer, December 21, Slightly bigger volumes likely for mangoes

The Packer, December 21, Marketers maintain ad budgets in downturn

  Supply Chain Monitoring And Evaluation Final Report
  Available

Our research team has completed a year-long evaluation of the mango supply chain from Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Guatemala and Mexico. Mangos and the handling practices were tracked from the packing shed to the retail grocery store in the United States. The results of their work have been detailed in a final report, which is available on request. Based on what was learned during this study, a best management practices manual is in development and an outreach program is being planned to help all members of the mango supply chain do their part to improve mango quality.

Please contact Leo Ortega at lortega@mango.org or 407-629-7318 x104 to request the final report or the executive summary for this project.

  Consumer Research Results

Each month, approximately 1000 consumers are surveyed on behalf of the NMB as part of our ongoing consumer research project. We use this valuable information to help shape future programs and gauge the effectiveness of our efforts.

The Executive Summary for this project, which is linked below, includes the initial findings from the 2008 research. In the Consumer Research Report, you’ll find the results for the key questions of market penetration, number of mangos purchased and average price paid from March 2008 through November 2009.

Consumer Research Executive Summary
Consumer Research Top-Line Report

To read an overview of the project with the objective and survey parameters, click here.

  Crop Forecast

The Mango Crop Forecast provides the projected volume, recent volume history and a comparison to last year for those countries that are currently shipping or will start shipping soon. Recent pricing history helps to tell another part of the mango market 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 in your computer's cache. A click on "refresh page" or "reload page" should bring up the newest crop forecast document.

  Continuation Referendum Scheduled For National
  Mango Board

USDA is required to administer a continuation referendum for the National Mango Board every five years. This means that eligible mango industry members get to decide if the program should continue. The NMB's first referendum will take place from March 15 to 26, 2010. Importers and first handlers who handled 500,000 pounds of mangos or more in 2008 or 2009 calendar year are eligible to vote. Everyone who is eligible to vote will receive a ballot from USDA. If you have questions about the referendum, please contact Deborah Simmons at (202) 720-4140 or deborah.simmons@ams.usda.gov. The complete details are listed in the Federal Register.

  U.S. Outreach Meetings To Be Conducted Via Webinar

For 2010, the National Mango Board will be hosting our outreach meetings in the U.S. online, via webinar. This approach will allow us to reach more of our U.S. industry members, give you more flexibility to attend our meetings, and reduce our outreach meetings budget so we can put more of your funds into marketing and research programs. You’ll no longer be limited to attending a meeting only when we come to your part of the country. Instead, we will hold one webinar each quarter in 2010, and we encourage you to attend as many of the webinars as you possibly can. We are working hard to make each webinar informative, interesting and interactive.

The first webinar will take place on Wednesday, March 3rd at 4 pm Eastern time. Stay tuned for more details.

  Foreign Outreach Meetings

The National Mango Board met with mango industry members in Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico on December 11th, 2009.

The next stop for the industry outreach meeting program is Guatemala City, Guatemala on February 16th. Detailed information is posted in the calendar section of mango.org. 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.

  Next Board Meeting

The NMB's next board meeting will take place in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. The meeting is scheduled for March 10^th & 11^th. Please see the calendar section of mango.org for more information.

  NMB Diversity Statement

The NMB encourages industry members without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, size of business/operation, and marital or family status or other basis protected by U.S. law to participate in NMB activities and seek a position on the NMB.