The National Mango Board (NMB) has elected new officers for 2009 at its November board meeting in Orlando, Florida, where the organization also finalised its 2009 budgets and marketing programs, according to a recent press release.
The new officers include: Isabel Freeland, Chair, Coast Tropical Distributors, San Diego, CA; John-Campbell Barmmer, Vice Chair, Chestnut Hill Farms, Miami, FL; Sue Duleba, Treasurer, GM Produce Sales, Hidalgo, TX; and Bonifacio Bustamante Hernández, Secretary, CC Tropicales SA de CV, Escuinapa, Sinaloa, Mexico.
Exciting programs are in place for 2009, the organization said, including marketing efforts to consumer, retail and foodservice audiences plus a broad spectrum of research programs designed to help the mango industry.
With the new slate of officers in place to guide the NMB and the industry outreach program going strong, the NMB claims the mango industry can rest assured that 2009 will be a very exciting year.
Throughout 2008, the NMB made great strides in their outreach efforts to the mango industry. In total, the group conducted 12 industry outreach meetings in 2008, visiting at least once each of the top five mango-exporting countries to the US, along with each major entry port in the US.
US mango consumption per capita has quadrupled since 1990 to an estimated 2.2 lbs per year in 2007, according to the NMB. Mango import volume for 2007 was 661m lbs, 3 per cent more than 2006 and 15 per cent more than 2005. According to Consumer Research commissioned by the National Mango Board, 35 per cent of US customers purchased mangoes within the past six months.
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