Mangoes thrive at retail in spring, summer

The mango category continues to expand at retail, especially during the spring and summer, as grocery stores aggressively promote the fruit, look at new varieties and consider innovative options, including consumer packs.

“Being in the Northwest, we’ve been kind of slow to get on the tropical boat,” said Jeff Fairchild, produce director for New Seasons Market, a Portland, Ore.-based chain of 18 supermarkets.

But the region seems to be making up for lost time.

“In the past four or five years, (mangoes) have just taken off,” he said.

New Seasons offers mangoes year-round, but has the best results sourcing them from Mexico from January through early October, then from California until early November.

The price per each and the quality from offshore sources “is nothing like Mexican or domestic mangoes out of California,” Fairchild said.

Store displays range from a 4- by 2-foot table in spring and summer to a 2- by 2-foot section at other times.

About 70% of the mangoes the stores sell are the ataulfo variety, also called honey or Champagne mangoes.

But the chain also sells green-skin varieties such as keitt and kent, and Fairchild works with a supplier in Mexico who plans to ship varieties to New Seasons that are native to growing areas around the world but grown in Mexico.

“It will be interesting how our customers relate to them,” Fairchild said.

Related: Mango volume expected to rise

New Seasons also is experimenting with some consumer bags, but Fairchild said they just arrived in late March and it was too soon to judge customer response.

Retailers tend to prefer large mangoes.

“For me, the bigger the better,” said Vince Mastromauro, produce director for the five Sunset Foods Inc. stores based in Highland Park, Ill. “It shows more value and quality.”

Sunset Foods’ customers are in tune with traditional varieties, such as kent, which is available from Mexico in early spring and summer.

“It has a nice yellow color and a little bit of a red tinge on the skin,” Mastromauro said. “It looks very inviting, and it’s sweet.”

The Champagne mango also is starting to gain traction.

“It’s a smaller mango, but, boy, does it pack a punch as far as flavor,” he said.

During the spring, Mastromauro said he was featuring mangoes on ad or as a temporary price reduction on a regular basis.

Mangoes are popular with all demographics because they have become more available, and they’re a hot topic on social media, Mastromauro said.

“Mainstream customers are realizing that it’s a healthy fruit and it’s a good fruit,” he said.

Mangoes are a “fairly consistent commodity” at B&R Stores, a 20-unit chain based in Lincoln, Neb., said Randy Bohaty, produce director.

“We’ll cycle through different varieties, depending on what the availability is,” he said.

Tommy atkins mangoes are a shopper favorite at B&R.

“They’re colorful and have additional eye appeal that draws attention,” Bohaty said.

Mangoes have good penetration in the B&R market area, but it’s “a shopping list item” for shoppers in stores with a high Hispanic demographic, he said.

He compared mangoes to kiwifruit, once considered an ethnic item but now something that appeals to the general population.

The size of the stores’ mango displays vary by season and promotional opportunities.

“If we put (mangoes) on ad, we’ll go big,” Bohaty said, with up to 200 cases on display.

In stores that have a significant Hispanic customer base, B&R sells mangoes by the case at a discount.

Talks have taken place within the industry about offering pre-ripened mangoes, just as avocado growers have been doing with their fruit.

“It’s been discussed, but it hasn’t quite happened,” Mastromauro said. “No one wants to throw it away, and no wants it to come in overripe.”

Mastromauro is open to considering pre-ripened mangoes, though.

“I think we should give it a go and see if we can stage it right so we get the right ripeness right off the bat,” he said. “But I think there’s a cost associated with that, like for the ethylene they have to use.”

Fairchild isn’t as receptive to the idea.

New Seasons stores have 9- by 11-inch stand-up signs in their mango displays that illustrate the various stages of ripeness for ataulfo mangoes.

“You don’t have to be a pomologist to understand when they’re ripe,” he said.

B&R Stores does not offer pre-ripened mangoes.

Although it would be an advantage for consumers, displaying ripe mangoes would be a higher risk for retailers because of potential shrink, Bohaty said.