Splendid anxiously awaits mango supply to pick up
By
John Groh
Splendid anxiously awaits mango supply to pick up
Splendid by Porvenir, a leading importer and distributor of mangos, is anxious for fruit volume to ramp up to meet demand that has been on the rise in recent weeks.
According to a mango crop report released by the National Mango Board, at the conclusion of Week 4 fruit volume from Peru and Mexico combined was just under 1.9 million boxes, with Peru accounting for 1.7 million of those boxes. For the season to date, Peru has shipped just under 12.5 million boxes.
By comparison, 2025 saw Peru ship nearly 3.3 million boxes in Week 4 and just over 21 million for the season at this time last year.
Looking ahead for Weeks 5-8, mango volume is expected to be 8 percent lower year to date, with volume from Peru expected to be 31 percent lower compared to this time last season.
Daniel Ibarra, president of Splendid, with U.S. headquarters in Nogales, AZ, told The Produce News in late January that uneven supply from Peru has left the market with insufficient volume to meet increased demand.
“Supply from Peru has not been steady this season, so we’re waiting for steady supply from Mexico to start,” he said, adding that Mexican Ataulfos have been available since early January, with rounds expected to begin in late February.
He said the available Ataulfos are in high demand, with larger U.S. retailers requesting more fruit and with some of the volume going to Canada.
He conceded that demand could cool if temperatures remain below normal. “Mangos are considered a warm weather fruit and we tend to sell more when temperatures are warm,” he said.
Exacerbating the situation is a shortage of USDA inspectors to certify fruit at packinghouses in Mexico, which Ibarra hoped would improve in the coming weeks.
“Things should pick up in a couple of weeks, bringing good availability,” he told The Produce News Jan. 22 at the recent SWIPE convention in Tucson, AZ.
Aside from mangos, Splendid also has a year-round sweet corn deal, which Ibarra said peaks during the January-March timeframe and was currently seeing good demand and strong pricing.
“We have seen lower yields from the fields so far, which has kept prices very good,” he said. “We expect volume will pick up and quality to remain strong in the coming months.”
Aiding demand for Mexican sweet corn is the fact that Florida weather has been challenging this season, causing retailers to look at alternate sources to meet demand.