The muscle that Peru has garnered from its mango export industry manifest itself once again at the annual Perspectivas de la Industria de Exportación de Mango Peruano, held earlier this month in front of more than 300 people in that South American country.

The conference is held in advance of the main Peruvian harvest, which begins in mid-December, the middle of that region's spring, and continues through March. The country is already producing limited quantities of its Kent variety. In all, some 60,000 acres are thought to be under harvest this year, about one-fifth of which are from plants less than five years old.

Attendees were told that this season's harvest is expected to be equal to or superior to the 2011-12 season, when 70,000 tons were exported. Also on the docket at the conference were new cultivation techniques, particularly the use of solar energy in mango irrigation. Also analyzed was the U.S. Department of Agriculture's handling of a salmonella crisis last year.

The most optimistic forecasts call for the figure to reach 100,000 tons, according to the Peruvian Association of Mango Exporters. Some three-quarters of the export-quality mangos, destined for the United States, Europe and Asia, come from the regions of Piura and Lambayeque.

Included in the gathering were some 20 Americans and a lone Mexican, Arturo Hernández Campos, whose twin businesses Greensky Service SA de CV and Hecart International, handle shipment and packaging of mangos.

The Mexico City-based companies employ two dozen people and have been in business since the late 1990s. Mr. Hernandez took with him the only participant from Japan, a buyer who was looking to satisfy that country's appetite as Japan marks its third year of opening to Peruvian mangos.

"I had hoped to introduce the Hecart fruit caps to the Peruvian mango industry, especially with the opening of the Japanese market," Mr. Hernández said, "and I believe we accomplished our goal."

Japan has been a consistent buyer of fruit from Brazil, Australia and Mexico. Hecart, which intends to open a representation office in the city of Piura, the region's capital of mango production, recently placed an order for 3.8 million nets in 10 40-foot containers, he said.

Nets made by Hecart contain a base of foam made of polythene -- in different densities -- that are flexible and recyclable. The foam absorbs and reduces crashes and vibrations that might potentially scar the fruit. In addition to mangos, the nets are also made for papaya, apples and starfruit.

Mr. Hernández said he realized that inferior nets are used in Peru, but they have become accepted and the standard of that market.

"I have high hopes for this market, as our quality and price was a great surprise for many of the exporters," he said.

Locally produced nets in Peru come in tubular rolls of 1,000 meters, uncut and without a belt. Hecart's standard mango net has a double belt available in varied colors, cut in 25 or 28 centimeters.

Greensky, which has three dozen steady buyers, was featured on National Geographic's Cargas Imposibles, a six-part series dealing with shipping that aired air Oct. 11.

The program was to originally look at the shipments of horses, berries and flowers from Chile, but while the film crew was in Mexico in March, it learned of the methods used to ship mangos and limes abroad and decided to include that in one of its six segments.