mangoes

Mexican mango exports rose by 21.3 per cent to some 275,000 tonnes during the January to August period of this year, according to figures released by the Mexican ministry of agriculture (Sagarpa).

Sendings also grew in value terms this year, with sales up by 33.3 per cent to US$215m, Sagarpa said.

In total, Mexico produced 1.45m tonnes of mangoes during the first eight months of this year, explained Ernesto Fernández Arias, deputy secretary for food and competitiveness at Sagarpa.

The main destination markets were the US, Canada, Japan and the Netherlands, while presence was also consolidated in Spain and the UK.

Mangoes are produced throughout Mexico with 65 per cent of the commercial crop grown in the states of Guerrero, Nayarit, Sinaloa and Chiapas.

Sagarpa believes there is also high production potential for mangoes in the states of Veracruz, Campeche, San Luis Potosí and Quintana Roo.

Mexico’s solid performance with mangoes in the last few years has promoted the country to become one of the leading players on the global market, Sagarpa added.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nation’s, Mexico ranks as the tenth-most important mango producer in the world, with an annual production estimated to be worth US$978,000, as well as the leading grower in the Americas.