Ana Ramos is a licensed customs broker and partner with her husband, Frank Ramos, owners of The Perishable Specialist Inc. in Miami. The company is a leading brokerage firm specializing in fresh fruits and vegetables.

“We are anticipating a good solid season with some increases based on customer acquisitions and new deals from existing customers,” Ramos told The Produce News. “Blueberries from Guatemala have enjoyed gradual but consistent increases in volumes over the past three seasons.”

Silver linings can be elusive, but it is a positive that food safety is top of mind for virtually all Mexican mango sheds this year.

A quick Google search of “mangos recipes” illustrates the point for Charlie Eagle, vice president of business development for Southern Specialties Inc. He ticks of the various entries — mango salsa, mango avocado salad, chipotle mango, frozen mango margarita — and declares that mangos are becoming mainstream, which he sees as the key to increasing consumption and sales.

“The key to increasing mango sales as a whole is, number one, you have to have them on the shelf, and secondly people have to be familiar with the product,” Eagle said.

Approaching its third anniversary, Pompano Beach, FL-based HLB Specialties LLC, is anticipating a significant increase in its mango volume as it transitions to a 52 week supplier.

The firm was founded in October of 2010 as a joint venture between Southern Specialties Inc. and HLB Tropical Food USA Inc.

Initially the resulting company focused on sourcing, growing, packing, shipping and distributing several varieties of papayas grown in Brazil, Ecuador, Belize, Mexico and other countries in Central and South America. It has since expanded into mangos.

Though mangos have only been part of the product lineup at Panorama Produce Sales Inc. of Mamaroneck, NY, for one-third of its 30-year life, they are a very important part of the company’s business.

The firm was founded by brothers Jeff and Rick Nagelberg and now include Jeff’s son, Eric, who is in charge of the mango program. “We’ve been importing mangos for over 10 years,” he said, “and are continuing to show steady growth.”

In light of the mango recall that occurred at the end of the 2012 season, San Diego-based Coast Tropical has spent much of its time, energy and resources in 2013 making sure all of its mango providers have top notch food safety programs in place and have achieved all the necessary certifications.

The crowning event of that effort was the construction of a dedicated state-of-the-art packing facility in the Los Mochis district in Northern Sinaloa in Mexico.