August 1, 2024
By Dell deChant
Contributor: Tia Rowe
Did you know that you have a choice of which mangos to enjoy this mango season? While you can always buy mangos in the commercial grocery store, all of those mangos come from Mexico. Luckily for our Florida readers – and especially our New Port Richey readers – it’s easy to find plenty of locally grown mangos right in your own backyard. Those who have tried the local fruit marvel at its superior taste and texture compared to the imported mangos sold in stores.
Like most cities in central and south Florida, New Port Richey has near-ideal growing conditions for this wonderful summer fruit – but not as many trees as we could have. Meanwhile, like most mango-seekers, many “Newportrichians” looking for mangos will buy imported, industrially produced mangos from Mexico at corporate grocery stores instead of enjoying a locally grown mango.
Mangos are a newcomer to the American market and many people are quickly moving from being mango-curious to a mango-lover. In Florida, most of us have been lucky to know about this sweet, juicy fruit for years; but the rest of the nation has only recently been exposed to the fruit on a large scale.
The expansion of mangos into the American market is the result of the development of a massive mango production operation in Central America and major marketing programs in the United States. Gigantic mango plantations that utilize industrial agricultural methods have been established in Mexico and Guatemala, which has resulted in 419 metric tons (840 million pounds) of mangos being exported to the U.S. in 2023 (The Packer, USDA report).
The impoverished Mexican state of Chiapas, alone, has 95,000 acres devoted to mangos. Its 1.5 million trees produced 272 tons of fruit in 2023. A huge harvest, to be sure, but still one of the lower totals among Mexican states. By comparison, the highest producing state, Sinaloa produced a stunning 475 tons (bluebook and The Nation). To give a little perspective, a male African Elephant weighs between 2 and 7 tons. That’s a lot of mangos being produced!
When you go to the grocery store you will see plenty of mangos right now – all from Mexico. Many Floridians have been lucky to taste how delicious a locally grown mango can be. We are so excited that much of the country has embraced the mango and that the fruit’s popularity has soared. Unfortunately, most grocery stores in states where mangos grow happily are importing industrially produced mangos from Mexico instead of looking to their own backyard for a tastier and more climate-friendly mango. This can cause mango-lovers to mistakenly believe they can only get imported, industrially grown mangos even though enough mangos are grown in Florida to supply most communities in the state.
Is there anything being done to promote Florida-grown mangos? Not surprisingly, the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (known as “UF/IFAS”) is devoting energy, resources, and genetic research to “growing the domestic mango industry in the Sunshine State” (IFAS report).
Regardless of the outcome of the UF/IFAS project, methods already exist to share Florida’s wonderful summer fruit more widely and more sustainably.
Our next mango blog post will discuss what those methods are and how they might be put into practice. Until then, may your mangos be local, juicy, and ripe!
Sources & Further Research
https://thefern.org/2023/03/our-mango-republic/ (from The Nation)
https://graphics.latimes.com/product-of-mexico-camps
https://www.oxfam.de/system/files/130705_oxfam_mangostudie_englisch_web.pdf
https://impactful.ninja/is-eating-mangoes-ethical-and-sustainable
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The Packer
Here’s how much U.S. imports and consumption of mangoes has changed over time
By Tom Karst <https://www.thepacker.com/authors/tom-karst> March 6, 2024
The U.S. imports virtually all its fresh mango supply, and both imports and per capita consumption are growing over time, according to USDA numbers.
Per capita retail availability of fresh mangoes grew from 2.1 pounds in 2010 to 3.5 pounds in 2021, according to the USDA, more than double the retail per capita availability of 1.7 pounds in 2000.
Mexico was by far the leading mango supplier to the U.S. in 2023. U.S. imports of Mexican mangoes were valued at $476.3 million in 2023, which accounted for 63% of the total U.S. mango import value that year.
Following Mexico, leading suppliers of mangoes to the U.S. in 2023 were Peru (19% of total import value), Brazil (8%) and Ecuador (4%).
U.S. imports of Mexican mangoes have steadily increased in value, up from $191 million in 2010 to $476 million in 2023.
By volume, Mexican mangoes accounted for 66% of total U.S. import mango volume in 2023.
U.S. imports of Mexican mangoes totaled 419,930 metric tons in 2023, the USDA said. By month, U.S. imports of Mexican mangoes peaked in May, topping 71,600 metric tons.
Mexican mango shipments were strongest from March through September, peaking from April through August.
By month, Mexico’s share of U.S. mango 2023 import volume was:
January — 17%.
February — 26%.
March — 64%.
April — 74%.
May — 81%.
June: — 91%.
July — 95%.
August — 97%.
September — 66%.
October — 17%.
November — 15%.
December — 16%.
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