Over the last two years, the mango category faced many of the post-COVID-19 challenges that other commodities have faced, such as high sea freight, higher labor and higher energy costs. Most recently in Mexico, growers faced the challenge of a lower exchange rate, hurting profits.
Some challenges this year are greatly impacting the upcoming South American season. Most notably, due to the weather effects of El Nino, Ecuador is experiencing a mango crop failure.
“Ecuador, as a country, is only seeing approximately 30 percent flowers, and some large growers believe they will not have any fruit for export this year,” Nagelberg said. “The exact percentage of the crop that will be harvested is difficult to predict, but there is a consensus in the mango industry that the Ecuador crop is severely reduced with the idea that approximately 30 percent of normal volume will be exported.”
Peru is also in a similar situation, so the company is expecting drastically reduced supplies from November until March.
Naturally, that makes 2023 a difficult year to expand business due to upcoming shortage of supplies.
“We believe the best way to grow this year is to diversify your product line,” Nagelberg said. “We are looking into importing new items this season, such as limes and grapes,” adding that Panorama Produce will continue to serve its customers and support growers, just like it has for its mango partners for the past two decades.
