The case for mangoes in the citrus section

Photos courtesy National Mango Board

The National Mango Board has a message for retailers: To unlock the sales potential of the world’s most popular fruit in your stores, move mangoes out of the tropicals section and into the citrus set.

Mango advocates often point to the explosion of the avocado category as an example of what can happen when a great item is merchandised alongside other staples instead of with specialty items.

“In the 1990s, when avocados were beginning to gain market momentum, they were considered exotic and merchandised in the exotic section,” said Tammy Wiard, senior retail marketing manager at the NMB. “For the category to become mainstream, avocados needed room to grow, eventually finding a new home in the tomato set. That large, stable home position for avocados created scale and permanency for the item to be easily and readily located by the consumer.”

The board sees citrus as an ideal permanent home for mangoes for several reasons. For one, both categories present similar usage opportunities; they can be eaten by themselves as snacks or used to garnish salads, drinks and other dishes. Another positive is the color break that mangoes can create in a citrus set. Seasonality is another reason they pair well.

“Mangoes and citrus complement each other in seasonal production and sales peaks, creating a consistent sales balance for this merchandise set,” Wiard said. “Citrus sales have traditionally been focused on the fall and winter months, with a sales drop in the spring and summer. The opposite is true for mangoes. Mango volumes build in the spring and are heavy in the summer. Mangoes can be the ‘summer orange,’ providing an excellent source of Vitamin C and more than 20 vitamins and minerals.”

There are a number of places in the produce department that make sense for mangoes, according to the board. Citrus is one of the best, but there are other opportunities also.

“We found through third-party research that there is 26% cross-shopping between mangoes and citrus, making mangoes and citrus natural merchandising partners,” Wiard said. “We have found similar success in merchandising mangoes adjacent to stone fruit in the summer months.

“Mangoes also align well with lemons and limes as both are tropical and are considered by U.S. consumers to be mainstay tropicals,” Wiard said. “That mainstay tropical ‘halo’ effect can further bolster mangoes’ mainstream image as a day-to-day fruit.”