Fast Moving Crop

  Ataulfos: Perhaps the most important part of this Ataulfo crop report is a reminder of just how sensitive this variety is to cold and what happens when it is transported from the border to distribution points on excessively cold trucks. We are watching that play out in real time this season, especially now as…

Continue Reading

Ataulfo + Cold Trucks = Bad.

Period. Ataulfos need a temperature between 50–55°F for optimal success. Below that, Brix drops, acidity rises, and a cascade of physiological problems begins—many of which we’re seeing play out en masse this particularly challenging season. A mixed-load mentality and 45°F trucks will never build robust Ataulfo programs capable of consistently delivering exceptional flavor, clean skin,…

Continue Reading

Reality Bites

Reality Bites is a 1994 film about a generation that came of age believing the world worked a certain way, then had to live through the moment it became undeniable that it didn’t — not in a single crash, but in an accumulation of signals they kept explaining away until they couldn’t anymore. This is…

Continue Reading

#RipenYourWay

  As we continue the journey to the full launch of The Ripening Room, it’s time to introduce the #RipenYourWay campaign and education. Over the course of the next two weeks leading up to the launch of La Bolsa Mágica we will be finalizing the website as well as the in-store and virtual corresponding #MangoEd…

Continue Reading

Summer Crop Report

I would like to apologize to everyone who has come to rely on my weekly reports for insight and planning. I understand how valuable this information is, and sharing it is something I believe benefits all of us in the industry. That being said, I experienced a terrible situation in the home I have been…

Continue Reading

And Then There Was Consensus

Disclaimer: This crop report, like many I write, is told through the lens of Crespo Organic Mangoes, a program I am intricately embedded with. By now it’s clear — everyone in the industry has landed in the same place. The consensus on the upcoming transition out of the southern regions and into the north is…

Continue Reading

Bad News is “Good News”

There is something about delivering bad news crop reports that creates anxiety in me — despite being pretty direct and comfortable as a straightforward information shooter. I think it’s another case of my values being misaligned with parts of an industry that sometimes treats the withholding of information as a competitive advantage, rather than a…

Continue Reading