Don’t let the low early numbers for the 2025 Mexican mango crop fool you.
As of mid-February, Mexican growers had only exported about 1 million pounds of the fruit this year compared to 1.8 million pounds at the same time a year ago. But Chris Ciruli, partner in Ciruli Bros. LLC, Rio Rico, Ariz., said that doesn’t mean this year’s crop will come up short.
“I think it’s the exact opposite of that,” he said.
Cold weather and some light rain, which is virtually unheard of in the Mexican growing areas in February, have pushed the season off to a slow start, Ciruli said.
Not only should picking pick up significantly by mid-March, but the fruit should be larger than usual because of ample rainfall during the growing season.
“I look at the crop situation as being very, very good going forward,” he said. “We’re just off to a slow start.”
Ciruli Bros. now is importing mangoes from Chiapas, Oaxaca and Michoacan.
G-M Produce Sales LLC, Hidalgo, Texas, kicked off its Mexican mango program the week of Feb. 17, and it will continue until September, said JoJo Shiba, West Coast director. The company ships all the commercial mango varieties — haden, tommy atkins, kent, keitt and ataulfo.
Fruit size has been mixed.
“The early ataulfos from Oaxaca have been primarily larger sizes — 16s through 12s,” Shiba said. “However, with Chiapas and Michoacan starting up, there will be more smaller yellows available now.”
The Mexican mango harvest for Oxnard, Calif.-based Mission Produce started strong in February and will continue for conventional and organic mangoes until the end of the harvest in September, said Keith Barnard, senior vice president of global sourcing.
“The organic varieties we’re offering from Mexico this season include ataulfo (or honey) and tommy atkins,” he said.
“Mexico has the longest growing season, and production spans multiple varieties due to its diverse climatic conditions throughout the country,” Barnard added.
Throughout the summer, the company will source honey, haden, tommy atkins, kent and keitt varieties from Mexico.
At the beginning of the season, sizes should be concentrated on medium and small fruit, he said. By midseason, usually around May or June, sizing is expected to increase.
“The growers in our network are seeing a full bloom and the industry is expecting a good mango season,” Barnard said.
Although mangoes typically are sold by the each, Ciruli Bros. also offers four- and six-pack clamshell containers, Ciruli said.
The company’s mangoes should be in many stores by the first week of March, and all customers should be receiving them by March 15.
The first fruit set “is not your prettiest child,” Ciruli said. It may have a few blemishes, but the eating quality will be “outstanding.”
“We’ll have very, very high quality by mid-March,” he said.
Shipments from G-M Produce will start off slowly, like they did last year, with red mangoes out of the southern areas, Shiba said.
“By mid-April through June, we could see good volume on small mangoes, as a lot of packers in the central areas of Jalisco and southern Sinaloa are predicting a bumper crop this year,” she said.
The southern areas in Michoacán should be in full swing by April and May, Shiba said.
“Yellow mangoes will be heavy mid-March through April, with the season out of the southern areas winding down in May,” she said.
It’s only been a couple of months since Mission Produce introduced its four-count mango bag, but the product already has received “great feedback and impressive demand,” Barnard said.
“It’s clear that mango shoppers are looking for value pack opportunities, so we designed our new stand-up pouch for shoppers looking to buy more than one mango at a time,” he said.
The company anticipates heavy mango promotions this spring.
“Honeys usually reach promotable volumes in late March to April, while rounds are typically promotable from mid-April to mid-May,” Barnard said.
“Ripe mangoes from Mexico have great potential to drive sales in the U.S. market,” he added.
