Splendid: Different price points emerging
Splendid: Different price points emerging
So far it has been a fairly good mango season with good volume and good f.o.b. prices, said Larry Nienkerk, president of Splendid Products LLC in Burlingame, CA. Like others in the mango business, Nienkerk said the industry is moving more fruit at higher prices, which led to a new dynamic with regard to price points at retail.
“You can’t hit those same price points [at retail] anymore,” he said. “The days of three or four mangos for a $1 are gone.”
He said inflation in growing costs in Mexico and transportation costs from the shed in Mexico to the retailer in the United States has resulted in over a 10 percent increase. “If the price was $5 last year [on a given day] it has to be $5.75 today just to keep up.”
Mangos have long enjoyed their best sales runs at retail when supermarkets build big displays and blow them out at great prices. However in recent years, volumes have improved as the price has also increased. That has led Nienkerk to advocate for per pound pricing, which is how most fruits in the produce department — with the exception of avocados — are typically sold. However, the National Mango Board did conduct a survey and found that most respondents do not favor a switch to per-pound pricing.
While Nienkerk has accepted that he is in the minority, he still believes per pound pricing would give retailers more attractive promotion options as the price increases, and would also point out what a great bargain mangos are compared to most other fruits.
As he surveys the season, he also sees better quality fruit coming across the board. After a late season food-safety concern last year, every packer in the industry redoubled their food safety and inspection efforts this year, which has resulted in an all-around cleaner piece of fruit. “The big push is to get the packing sheds certified and that does appear to have led to fewer [arrival] problems this year.”
With its late crop from Northern Sinaloa, Splendid is expecting to have good supplies of Mexican mangos through September. He expects imports to be up from that region this year but as of mid-May, he said the trees were just starting to bloom so an accurate forecast was impossible. Currently Splendid is shipping from Nayarit, where Nienkerk anticipated a normal-sized crop.
