The Mexican mango season is coming to an end according to Tom Hall of Freska Produce. He hopes to be able to pack Mexico’s fruit through September and according to him. “ And as we finish the season, sizing will be predominantly large,” he says. Peaking on 3s, 4s, 5s, and 6s of Keitt mangos. Tropical storm Lydia brought some rain associated rains, which limited production for about three days in the first week of September, but the harvest picked up again soon after. “This time of year Mexico (production) is dependent on weather. If the rains begin to become heavy and consistent, at that point we need to evaluate if can continue packing. That is not the case currently, but things could change and at that point we would make a full transition into the Brazilian Season.”
The National mango board projected the season will run until October in Mexico and projected about 77 million boxes. As of the week ending September 2 total volume shipped from the country was 77,980,001. “Overall the Mexican season was actually fairly good,” says Hall. “We did have some pretty peak volumes to contend with during the summer months. In June through August there was quite a bit of volume coming out of Mexico at that time. We had a lot of good retail support, which really helped us get through those peak months.”
Brazilian fruit – Tommy Atkins in particular, has already started. Freska ships those to customers on the east coast. “We already have some fruit on the water.” He says they plan to keep costumers on the west coast in Mexican mangos for as long as possible before the complete transition into Brazil. By design for Freska, they plan to ship up until November, where they will quickly transition in the Ecuadorian season. The NMB has projected about 8.1 million boxes this year. Their volume shipped for the week ending September 2 was listed by the NMB as 674,189 which is down from the same week; last year’s count of 800,232.