Top Five Tips for Maximizing Fresh Mango Sales at Retail

Emily Kohlhas

March 15, 2021

Mangoes have long been one of the most popular fruits in the world, but they have only begun to gain traction in the US during the past two decades. As suppliers and retailers worked together to improve quality, consistency, and availability (while immigrant communities familiar with mango grew, increasing baseline demand), chefs and consumers started to take notice of this delicious fruit. According to the National Mango Board, US mango consumption nearly doubled between 2005 and 2017; and in 2021 the mango moved into the #12 spot on the list of most consumed fruits in the nation. But there is a LOT of room to grow for this tropical favorite.

Mangoes are available year-round in the US market from tropical growing regions, primarily in Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, Haiti, and Puerto Rico. While promotions can be scheduled all year long, spring and summer are the most popular seasons for mango promotion, aligning with the height of production for country’s largest mango supplier, Mexico.

The 2021 Mexican mango season is expected to be particularly abundant. With a return to normalcy finally in sight after a global pandemic and consumers looking for a sweet way to celebrate, this is the perfect year to put mangoes front-and-center in the produce department. The National Mango Board offers an incredible range of resources and merchandising tools for mango promotion at retail, from signage and mango bins to backroom posters and receiver webinars. We encourage you to utilize their retail tools.

The John Vena Inc. team has been receiving, ripening, and shipping mangoes for decades. While there are hundreds of things you can do to enhance whole fresh mango sales, there are five things that we believe are essential to success. Read our top tips:

1. Start with a Great Mango

Every great mango program starts with a great mango. Consumers will not come back for a mediocre mango – especially not consumers who are trying the fruit for the first time. Work with a supplier that you know will put flavor first and be willing to work with receiving standards that include an internal assessment of product quality.

2. Educate Produce Staff

Many consumers may not be familiar with the range of mango varieties available and their differences – or even how to tell if a mango is ripe and ready to eat. Point of sale materials are useful, but there is no substitute for an educated produce team. Properly trained employees will not only provide a better service experience for customers; they are also more likely to properly display and rotate the fruit, improving product quality and minimizing shrink. Utilize the National Mango Board’s excellent resources to ensure everyone on your team is an expert.

Offering online sales? Be sure to include text on any mango product listing informing consumers about basics such as how to determine mango ripeness, or the textural characteristics of each particular variety.

3. Display with Avocados

Mangoes are often relegated to the corner of an out-of-the-way tropical merchandiser with pineapple and papaya. But as mangoes become increasingly common staples in the US shopper’s basket, it is important to place them where the consumer will be most likely to associate them. The best display area for mangoes is with their natural mate in a seemingly infinite number of trending recipes: the avocado. An abundant display of mangoes and avocados beckons consumers to create a rich, tropical feast. Research from the National Mango Board also suggests mangoes perform will merchandised next to citrus fruits like oranges and mandarins, which are also thought of as single-serve snack fruits.

And importantly: NEVER, EVER display or store whole fresh mangoes in refrigeration. It can cause severe internal discoloration that will send consumers running.

4. Offer Choice of Ripeness & Variety

You may start with a great mango, but if the consumer needs a mango tonight and all you have to offer are firm fruits, that person is going to be disappointed – either in the store or at home when they bite into a pale, crisp, sour piece of fruit. Just as avocados have grown into a category worthy of multiple SKUs to allow for the display of firm and ripe fruit, mangoes are deserving of such care and attention. By purchasing mangoes that have been pre-conditioned to a just-ripe stage in addition to firm mangoes, produce managers can ensure that consumers have access to fruit at the level of ripeness they prefer. This eliminates the inconsistencies (and headaches) of purchasing exclusively firm fruit and displaying ripe fruit only when leftover inventory reaches that stage. Learn more about JVI’s ripening services here.

An important note: ataulfo and other yellow mango varieties ripen more quickly than round mangoes, and as such do not require pre-conditioning.

There are also multiple varieties of mango available in the US market during certain times of year. Consider offering both a yellow and a round mango, when possible, to give consumers additional choice when it comes to flavor and texture. Learn about the varieties we carry on our mango commodity page.

5. Work with a Wholesale Partner

Now that you’re purchasing ripe and firm SKUs of high-quality mango year-round, it’s even more essential to use a trusted a supplier. Because mango origin and variety shift multiple times throughout the year, not to mention the need for professional post-harvest conditioning, we recommend working with a primary wholesale distribution partner – like JVI – within an easy distance of DC delivery. This allows buyers the flexibility they need to adjust orders, delivery times, and other details with little lead time, and saves them the hassle of wrangling a host of suppliers to ensure product quality year-round.

Once that partner is in place, communication is crucial. Keep in touch about category performance, promotions, pricing, merchandising ideas, and more. It is those conversations that generate the creative ideas that bring mango sales to the next level.