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Summertime Crop Update

June 13, 2019
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   Mexican organic mango season prepares for great peak. We will all be dripping in sweet mango mania. I do a fair amount of writing work in addition to all my other doings…. This article was originally written for and published (in edited form) by Organic Produce Network, to see the edited version on OPN’s weekly newsletter- click here. Consumers are having an excellent Mexican organic mango season, larger than normal displays of great looking and tasting fruit are bountiful and prices have been incredibly appetizing. This mango mania is expected to continue as the season has completed the transition into the most voluminous northern producing regions of Nayarit and Sinaloa. Reports of orchards of abundance  mangoes will surely bring ample promotions over the hot summer months when consumer cravings are most copious.

Empaque Don Jorge (Agricola Crespo)

May 22, 2019
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Boasting the most efficient and modern mango pack house around Disclaimer: This is a boastful and prideful post about a packing house that I truly believe in. I’m one of a few globally well-traveled industry folks with an extremely diverse make up of commodities, markets, cultures and systems. I have seen a lot of packing houses and “sheds” in my travels and this one is my personal favorite- which is why I’ work with them. Boasting this facility and the Crespo’s is the natural outcome of my true beliefs.   We don’t talk enough about packing houses in our business yet this is the one place that usually solves and/or causes most problems in terms of product quality and food safety. Most fruits and vegetables are harvested and then brought to a packing house or shed where they are then packed into various bulk or retail packaging. These large and small sorting/packing hubs serve as the distribution outlet for the farm  and/or the farmers. These facilities can be modern, elaborate, high tech, clean and simple, dirty and even  bare bones covered (shaded) tables where things like fresh herbs are packed right out of the field.

Mango Truths (Forecasting Summer)

May 8, 2019
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Sleuthing through the noise north and south of the border The truth is not always easy to find. It’s much like self-awareness. You have to have a great deal of will to find it.  The current mango market is a strange one that has a lot of folks asking questions about what’s currently happening and what’s next. In addition to produce being fickle in general, global warming has made forecasting difficult and unpredictable. Making matters worse, the industry is getting ultra-competitive with skinnier profit margins and higher operating costs. Mangoes -all the while- are a booming business. American consumers increasingly clamor for this sweet fruit, and there is little demand slowdown in sight. To-the-minute information is almost impossible to get right and those able to provide it often feel like they’re yielding what little power they have left by sharing it.

Copious Mexican Fruit (Coming Soon)

March 7, 2019
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All Region Season Predictions are In  It’s a funny (funny weird, not funny ha ha) time to report on copious amounts of  mangoes.  Supply on the round mangoes has taken an abrupt turn this week as Peru’s volume of Kents finally came to a halt  and as Mexican Tommy Atkins are still just drizzling out of the orchards. Shortage is the main talk of the mango town. ………BUT.

Carbon Sequestration in Mango Trees

February 25, 2019
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Nature gives us a green deal in mangoes The business of growing food for the American and Canadian markets in Mexico can often seem, and often times is, a strain on the environment. Regardless of whether your climate change viewpoints fall right, left or center, we could all agree that the unpredictable nature of weather affects us all. As more and more people around the globe lean more towards believing in climate change, more resources are shifted into its science and studies, and with that comes not only solutions but simple information that can sometimes surprise us all. New studies are continuing to emerge leading to conclusions that mango orchards can help mitigate climate change.

The Squeezed Squeeze Back

February 5, 2019
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Round Mango Market Difficulties Ahead Weeks 8-12 are the problem. Last Friday there was an early morning surge of mango chatter amongst industry folks.  A handful of the bigger conventional players released a series of statements —more like warnings, in the form of internal and external emails, the subject being massive shortages of round mangoes as the Peruvian season winds down and transitions into Mexican and Central American fruit.