Greetings Mango Industry,

When was the last time you spent just a few moments on www.mango.org, the best mango website in the universe? While I admit such a claim is biased, we do spend a lot of time pumping the site with relevant information for producers, shippers, retailers, foodservice, the media and consumers. Where else can you get detailed reports of mango volumes and pricing with just a few clicks? (See below for more information about the new Mango Crop Report Application.) And visitors to the site can easily access mango POS, recipes and images, which are available for anyone marketing mangos here in the US.

Experts in the retail sector (as well as anyone who markets mangos), can now watch the Mango Best Handling Practices webinar, which was held in early June. Anyone interested in learning more about mango research can check out the June Virtual Industry Outreach Meeting, which was all about the NMB research program. If you need to know when the next Virtual Industry Outreach Meeting will be, or you want to find out when our next board meeting will take place, the calendar section will provide those details.

Consumers have access to information about varieties, mango nutrition info and hundreds of recipes. They also come to the site to watch cooking videos, like this one with Ingrid Hoffmann demonstrating how she makes her Mango Cuban Melt.

These are just a handful of the resources available on NMB's website, www.mango.org. I hope you are using the site as a resource. We are methodically striving to make it more user-friendly and informative. I am interested to hear your feedback about the website. How do you use the site? What are you looking for? Your input will help us as we enhance the site in the future. Thanks in advance for your comments.

Genuinely,
William Watson, Executive Director

 Mango Marketing Update

Last month we brought you the first retail promotions report for 2010. In next month's Mango Connection, you'll see the second quarter results for consumer media, foodservice media and trade media. These reports, filled with details that show how many people are seeing our mango marketing messages, are fantastic tools to help us measure our success. They allow us to evaluate each and every piece of our marketing program to know if they are effective. These comparisons are particularly useful as we start making plans for our 2011 marketing programs.

But today we want you to ignore the numbers and know this. Today, there are gorgeous mango photos and recipes featured in the current issues of national magazines. Today, there are mango promotions happening in retail stores all across the country that include demo events, huge displays and mango feature ads. Today, there are people watching Ingrid Hoffmann on TV or on the internet teaching them how easy it is to cut a mango. Today, there are national restaurant chains that have mango items on their menus that they are promoting to their customers as something extra special. Today, there are people on Facebook and Twitter who know more about mangos because they are followers or fans of Jango Mango. Today, there are people reading about mangos on their favorite food blog or in their local newspaper. Today, there are retailers who know more about your product than they ever have before.

We can't be everywhere, all the time, but we are reaching millions of people, today and every day.

  Introducing the New Mango Crop Report Application

Have you ever wished you could look up the f.o.b. prices for mangos coming from Mexico into Nogales during the third week of June in 2008? To answer this question, you could have visited the USDA website, searched for the appropriate page, waded through hundreds of options that have nothing to do with mangos, and finally got your results.

Now, you can just visit mango.org/crop and get this exact information with just a few clicks.

Our brand new Mango Crop Report Application gives you direct access to the USDA Market News database and allows you to generate historical volume or f.o.b. pricing reports based your specific search parameters. First, choose your date range with the option to go all the way back to January 2005. Next, choose your source countries and entry ports. In just minutes, you can generate a report with as much or as little detail as you need, and you can export that data to an Excel file with one click.

Please check out the Mango Crop Report Application and let us know what you think. We created the application based on input and requests from industry members like you. Does it serve your needs? Do you have suggestions for how it can be improved?

  Mango Crop Report

The Mango Crop Report is updated every 7 to 14 days with information pertaining to the countries that are currently shipping mangos or will begin shipping soon to the U.S.

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.

  Nominations Update

The nominations process for the 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. Nominations 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 II – one position for a one-year term
Wade Shiba - GM Produce, Hidalgo, TX
Albert Perez - Continental Fresh LLC, McAllen, TX

Importers District III – two positions for three-year terms
George Mendez - G. Mendez & Co., Inc. – Nogales, AZ
Jorge Perez Calderon - Farmer's Best International, LLC – Nogales, AZ
Rodrigo Diaz - Diazteca Company – Rio Rico, AZ
Jiovani Guevara - CH Robinson Worldwide – Scottsdale, AZ

Importers District IV – one position for a three-year term
James Alvarez - Coast Citrus Distributors – San Diego, CA
Bill Vogel - Tavilla Sales dba APB Inc. – Los Angeles, CA

Nominations for the foreign producer positions are handled differently. Foreign producers may either be nominated by a Foreign Mango Organization or they may nominate themselves. Nomination packets will be presented to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture for the selection and appointment of new board members.

Foreign Producers – three positions for three-year terms

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

Perishable News, June 3, NMB Donates $5K to NYC High School

Fresh Plaza, June 4, National Mango Board Donates $5000 to Food and Finance High School in NYC

PMA Headline News, June 4, National Mango Board moves ahead with ambitious program

The Packer, June 7, Mango volume should be heavy this summer

Packer Online, June 7, Mango board turns five years old

Produce News, June 7, NMB offers ripeness guide for retailers

Produce News, June 7, National Mango Board donates $5000 to Food & Finance High School for future chefs

Produce News, June 7, NMB debuts crop report data

Produce News, June 7, National Mango Board moves ahead with ambitious program

  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 April 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.

  Best Handling Practices Webinar Now Available

If you were unable to attend our Best Handling Practices webinar earlier this month, we encourage you to watch it now. The entire event with the slides and audio is available for you and your peers anytime, 24 hours a day.

This webinar event covered the mango's journey from the field to the consumer, mango quality and maturity assessment at receiving, and best handling practices for the warehouse and distribution center. The session is packed with valuable information.

Click here to watch the Best Handling Practices webinar.

  Virtual Industry Outreach Meeting Update

Our second Virtual Industry Outreach Meeting for 2010 was held on Tuesday, June 8th. This virtual meeting focused on the NMB research program, including tools you can use to build your mango business. The entire presentation, including slides and audio recording is available on our website for you to watch at any time. The March Virtual Industry Outreach Meeting is also available.

Click here to view either event.

Our next Virtual Industry Outreach Meeting is scheduled for September 8th. Look for more information about this event in an upcoming Mango Connection.

  Outreach Meetings Update

The National Mango Board met with mango industry members in Piura, Peru on June 17th, 2010. The next industry outreach meetings will be in Coral Gables, FL on July 10th at the International Mango Festival at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens, and Petrolina, Pernambuco Brazil at FENAGRI in July 2010. 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 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.