Mexican mango shippers face challenges and see hope

The Mexican mango industry has been hit by the same supply chain issues as most commodities over the past year. Shippers have had to adjust to unforeseen obstacles and change the way they do business.

“Right now, there are a couple of challenging things we are facing,” said Jose Crespo, operations manager at Rio Rico, Ariz.-based Crespo Organic. “We are still coping with the numerous and ongoing pandemic problems in every facet of our operation. We have, like most, learned to live a new way, learned to do business differently.”

Even with adjustments, there have been other major issues to overcome. The cost of doing business keeps rising.

“Increased costs are a big problem. A general inflation of around 7% is what most are reporting, but in our sector, we know that number is more like 15% to 20%,” Crespo said. “Packaging materials, freight, labor, all of it has increased.”

Crespo said these are incredible challenges, plus the company faces a market that doesn’t want to pay higher prices even with the higher costs of production.

Domestic freight has been another complicated factor over the past year. Freight prices have increased significantly. But it has been difficult to even find trucks when needed, Crespo said.

Despite the challenges of COVID-19 and compounding challenges, mangoes enjoy good appeal and growing sales.

“The National Mango Board has done an incredible job of bringing mangoes mainstream with their social media campaigns,” said JoJo Shiba, west coast sales director of Hidalgo, Texas-based GM Produce Sales. “We have seen increases in sales across the country in some of the most unlikely areas. We like to think many are new mango buyers.”

If the weather holds up, retailers can expect Mexico to have a good supply of mangoes for promotions, Shiba said.