Early conclusion of Mexican deal leaves gap for Splendid
Early conclusion of Mexican deal leaves gap for Splendid
Splendid Products LLC of Burlingame, CA, is one of the leaders in the late-season Mexican mango crop, and then it plays a relatively minor role as production shifts to Brazilian product. It isn’t until Ecuador starts to ship that the company gets back in the deal in a major way.
With this year’s Mexican deal ending early, Splendid is going to have a larger gap than usual in its mango supplies. In fact, in early September, Larry Nienkerk could be found on the road headed for the Crazy Horse monument in South Dakota as he reviewed the Mexican deal and looked forward to start of the firm’s Ecuadorian deal around the end of September.
“[The Mexican deal] ended up being a very good deal,” said Nienkerk. “Overall the volume was down but the prices were higher. It made for a very good program especially in the northern district [of Sinaloa].”
Speaking Sept. 8, he noted, “There are a couple of sheds [in the north] still packing a few mangos, but we finished last Friday (Sept. 5).”
He said the deal ended for Splendid with a solid $7 market. By this second week of September, others said that the market had climbed as high $9 per carton for Brazilian mangos, which were still very limited because of cold weather in that South American country.
Nienkerk had not yet turned his attention to Ecuador. “I don’t have a great idea yet about volume from there. Some say it is going to be a little bit light. We will start with the yellow fruit in about three weeks.”
Generally speaking, Nienkerk knew the Brazilian deal was slow in getting started and he does not expect to see a lot of mango promotions until late November.
“There might be a few specials, but you don’t see many promotions until after Thanksgiving,” he said, adding that mangos are not a traditional Thanksgiving ad item.
He said the current pricing doesn’t lend itself to big mango promotions, but he expects that to change as the Ecuadorian deal gets into its peak volume in December.
Meanwhile, the Splendid executive was looking forward to visiting the Crazy Horse memorial for the first time in a decade. The sculpture of the famous Indian chief on a horse, which has been under construction since 1948, could still be decades from completion. Nienkerk was excited to see the progress since his last visit.
When finished, it is expected to be the largest sculpture in the world, dwarfing the nearby Mt. Rushmore profiles of four U.S. presidents.
