Ciruli Bros. pleased with needed ongoing mango promotion
Ciruli Bros. pleased with needed ongoing mango promotion
TUBAC, AZ — “Now we are seeing record-breaking imports, with combined volume from Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Mexican and, in mid-May, Haiti,” said mango marketer Chris Ciruli.
Ciruli, who is chief operating office of Ciruli Bros. LLC in nearby Rio Rico, AZ, sat with The Produce News May 3 in a short break during a Boys & Girls Club fundraising event that he organized at the Tubac Golf Resort.
Brothers Chris and Chuck Ciruli, chief operating officer and chief financial officer, respectively, of Ciruli Bros. LLC, based in Rio Rico, AZ.
“We’ve now had back-to-back weeks with 4 million boxes per week. A couple of years ago, 2.5 million, or maybe 3 million, was considered heavy.”
Ciruli added that fortunately, U.S. mango consumption is up. “We have tremendous ads now. The challenge is the next couple of weeks. From February to April we don’t have a lot of competition for shelf space. There will be a tremendous amount of watermelons [competing for shelf space] between now and Memorial Day.” Furthermore, “the first grapes are now being shipped from Mexico.”
With California tree fruit coming in this spring and above average Guatemalan mango production this year, Mexican mango prices “have to stay reasonable and keep the promotions going through July 4 to keep it moving.”
Ciruli noted that the National Mango Marketing Board had just received overwhelming renewed grower approval to keep up its good work through at least 2020. “That is fantastic. Their marketing team is working on the surge in volume and to get retailers to promote larger volumes.”
In Mexican mango groves, Sinaloa and Jalisco had strong production. In Los Mochis, which is in northern Sinaloa, there was bad springtime weather that disrupted vegetable production this spring and that weather will be “problematic” in late July and August for mangoes from Las Mochis.
Still, “the ’15 season will still be a huge increase for Mexican exports,” he said.
