Greetings Mango Industry,

As this year's mango deal unfolds, I continue to be amazed by the abundance and variety of information available about mangos headed for the U.S. market. You can find recommendations about everything from harvesting techniques to temperature controls out there, and that information will span different source countries, different times of the year and different varieties.

There's never been a single source to help make sense of the big picture, the whole mango deal, from all countries and from the orchard to the consumer - until now. One of the roles of the NMB is to collect, analyze and present data findings related to the entire mango industry; not just for a particular season or variety, but for the entire crop coming into the U.S. Because that's how we see the deal: 365 days a year.

To see how we approach this challenge, I encourage you to sign up for the upcoming Mango Best Handling Practices Webinar on Thursday, June 3rd. The webinar was created to educate you and your customers about mango assessment at receiving and give you information you can use to improve mango handling at the warehouse and distribution center. This webinar will be an example of how the data collected from multiple countries at different times of the year can be presented in a single format. Join us June 3rd and let us know what you think.

Genuinely,
William Watson, Executive Director

 Attend the Mango Best Handling Practices Webinar
 June 3rd

The NMB will host a webinar focused on best practices for handling mangos at the importer, wholesaler and retailer levels. We hope that you will encourage your retail trading partners to participate in this event in an effort to improve mango handling practices and mango quality.

A major driver of mango demand and consumption is fruit quality and consumer satisfaction. So, by improving handling practices, raising the bar on quality and creating satisfied, repeat customers, together we can strengthen the mango market.

The Mango Best Handling Practices Webinar will take place at 3:30 pm EDT on Thursday, June 3rd. Click here to reserve your spot in this free event. Ask your retailers to visit www.mango.org/handling to sign up.

  Virtual Industry Outreach Meeting June 8th

The next Virtual Industry Outreach Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 8th at 4:00 pm EDT. This is a date change from the original announcement in the April Mango Connection. This virtual meeting will focus on the NMB research program, including tools you can use to build your mango business.

Please click here to sign up for the June 8th virtual meeting.

The NMB hosted the first Virtual Outreach Meeting via webinar on March 3rd, 2010. We hope you were able to join us, but if not, the webinar and materials are available to you online. Click here and look for the link to the March Virtual Meeting to watch a recording of the webinar. The March virtual meeting included an overview of NMB programs, and highlights of 2009 results.

  Retail Marketing Update

This has been an exciting year so far in the world of retail mango marketing. With our new offerings of yellow-skinned and green-skinned mango messages, demand for our POS materials has never been higher. Through April, more than 35 retailers had ordered over 22,000 pieces of POS to help educate consumers and drive mango sales.

The NMB marketing team has participated with a booth at the Southeast Produce Council Expo and New England Produce Council Expo. These events provide outstanding opportunities for us to interact with retailers at all levels, from store-level associates to category managers, buyers and produce directors.

We're also starting to see the proof of promotions flow in. To date 20 promotions have been reported to the NMB, impacting 6,682 stores and encompassing 1,547 mango sampling events. More promotions have actually been executed, but there is typically a lag between the promotions happening and the retailers submitting the proof of promotion paperwork. You can expect to see these numbers grow with each quarterly report.

Click here to see the first retail promotions report for 2010.

  Mango Maturity & Ripeness Guide Shipped to
  Importers and Retailers

Last week the new Mango Maturity & Ripeness Guide was shipped to our list of U.S.-based mango importers. Starting this week, we have been shipping to retailers who have requested this tool, which is intended for use at the retail receiving point in the United States.

Please contact Megan McKenna (mmckenna@mango.org) or Wendy McManus (wmcmanus@mango.org) to request copies of the Mango Maturity & Ripeness guide, but please be aware that we are not shipping outside the U.S.

  Nominations Update

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 two 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 and rank the nominees. Ballots were sent out on May 14 and are due back at the NMB's office on June 1. 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 II- two positions available
Albert Perez, Continental Fresh LLC, McAllen, TX
Jorge Perez Calderon, Farmers Best International LLC, McAllen, TX
Maricela "Mary" Velasquez, Coast Citrus Distributors, McAllen, TX
Wade Shiba, GM Produce Sales, Missouri City, TX

Importers District III- two positions available
George Mendez, G. Mendez & Co, Inc, Nogales AZ
Jiovani Guevara, CH Robinson Worldwide, Phoenix, AZ
Jorge Perez Calderon, Farmers Best International LLC, Rio Rico, AZ
Rodrigo Diaz, Diazteca Company, Rio Rico, AZ
Samuel Ramirez, Multi Fresh Produce, Inc, Phoenix, AZ

Importers District IV- one position available
Bill Vogel, Tavilla Sales dba APB Inc, Los Angeles, CA
Jamez Alvarez, Coast Citrus Distributors, Los Angeles, CA

Foreign Producers – three positions available
Nominations for the foreign producer positions are handled a little differently. All nominees will be sent to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture for a final selection.

Brazil
Flávio Muranaka, Muranaka Com. Imp. & Exp. Ltda, Petrolina, Pernambuco
César Coutinho, FruitFort Agrícola e Exp. Ltda., Petrolina, Pernambuco
Caio Coelho, Upa, Petrolina, Pernambuco
Aristeu Chaves, FruitFort Agrícola e Exp. Ltda., Petrolina, Pernambuco

Ecuador
Fernando Valdano, Exofruit S.A., Guayaquil
Yamil Farah, Grupo Agriproduct, Guayaquil

Haiti
Ernesto Ruiz-Sierra, Golden Crown Produce, Haiti
René R. Varela, Golden Crown Produce, Haiti

Mexico
Jorge Armando Celis Moreno, Meximango SA de CV, Mazatlan, Sinaloa
Enrique Sanchez Ramirez, Arivania, Tecuala, Nayarit
Miguel Angel Allard Nicolas, Magmar S.P.R. de R.L., Chahuites, Oaxaca
Carlos Ramon Palafox Arenas, Agricola los Mangos S.P.R. de R.L., Zapopan, Jalisco
Jorge Perez Calderon, Agricola Alex S. de R.L. de C.V., Culiacan, Sinaloa
Norberto Galvan, Rodeva S.P.R. de R.L., Tapachula, Chiapas

Peru
Reynaldo Hilbck, Empafruit, Sullana, Piura
Mario A. Salazar, Agricola y Ganadera Chavin de Huantar S.A, Lima, Lima
Robert J. McDonald, Orica Nitratos S.A., Lima, Lima
Franz Vega Dienstmaier, Agrolatina EIRL, Piura, Piura

  National Mango Board In The News

The Packer, April 26, Mango industry votes to continue board

The Packer, April 26, Marketers try to pass knowledge to consumer

The Packer, April 26, Research studies target nutrition

The Packer, April 26, Mangoes bounce back after rain

The Packer, April 26, Stores use sampling to attract shoppers

The Packer Online, May 13, National Mango Board to host Web seminars

Fresh Plaza, May 14, National Mango Board to host Best Practices and industry outreach webinar events in June

PMA Headline News, May 17, National Mango Board to host Best Practices and industry outreach webinar events in June

Perishable News, May 17, National Mango Board To Host Webinars

  Consumer Research Results

Each month, approximately 1,000 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 March 2010.

Consumer Research Executive Summary
Consumer Research Top-Line Report

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

  Mango Crop Report

The Mango Crop Report is updated every seven to 14 days with information pertaining to the countries that are currently shipping mangos or will begin shipping soon to the U.S.

Information in the Mango Crop Report includes shipping projections, volume shipped, volume arrived in the U.S., and a comparison to the volume arrived in the U.S. in 2009. Also include is information about varieties shipping from each country, as well as recent pricing information by port, variety and size. The document is a rich source of detailed information about the mango crop.

Click here for the latest Mango Crop Report.

You can also visit www.mango.org/crop to see the most recent Mango Crop Report and to sign up to receive an alert email each time the document is updated.

Please note - if you visit the crop report frequently, you might find that you need to refresh your page to see the newest crop report. 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 report document.

  Foreign Outreach Meetings Update

The next stops for the industry outreach meeting tour include Piura, Peru at PROMANGO Congress on June 17th and Petrolina, Pernambuco, Brazil at FENAGRI in July 2010. Detailed information will be posted in the calendar section of mango.org when available.

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 National Mango Board will meet on September 14 and 15, 2010 in the New York/New Jersey area. Details will be posted in the calendar section when they are available.

  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.