The Crespo Mango Man dishes on what it takes to do specialty mangoes
“If you sell it, I will grow it.” Jorge Crespo on the simplicity of the specialty mango saga!
I love unraveling ideas, discovering truths, appreciating complexities, and sharing information. This Summer Mango Mania season, I’m excited to introduce my new series: 3 Minute Mango Expertise. In these videos, I explore various aspects of the mango supply chain, from orchard to table, by interviewing mango experts and sharing all the sweet details with you. Each short 3-minute video will capture the essence of each interview and I’ll supplement each 3 minute video with a blog post and the full length video interview, for those like me, who want more than just short snippets. This series aims to expand minds and provide access to valuable information simultaneously. Helping make the supply chain, from the orchards all the way to the consumer’s table a clear delineated line- which is essentially the motto of my mango blog…Under my mango tree, all is shared…..
First up is one of my favorite #CrespoPeople. Truthfully, all the Crespos are incredible, but Jorge stands out with his incredibly happy, positive attitude. It’s not only contagious but also forward-thinking, making one feel like anything is possible. As we will hear later in the series from Dr. Noris Ledesma, “we need forward thinking to move through the current challenges facing mangoes.”
Jorge’s passion for mangoes aligns with the original goals of El Grupo Crespo & RCF Distributors, established by his father Roberto. They ( El Grupo Crespo) aim to increase production and consumption of Mexican mangoes while creating sustainable, profitable agricultural models for their communities in Mexico. Like his father, Jorge understands the need to advance systems, thinking and offerings, dreaming of things others have yet to imagine. Farmers are well aware of constant change, and Jorge continuously seeks ways to improve and grow Crespo’s offerings with both consumer desires and growing realities in mind.
I recently caught up with Jorge while on an excursion with Earl’s Organic Produce deep in the mango orchards to discuss his advanced thinking years ago regarding specialty varietals. This foresight essentially evolved into our Mango Queen brand of specialty mangoes (a sub-brand of Crespo Organic), which was launched last year and has been received incredibly well across all regions of the USA and by organic consumers and retailers of all sizes.
I mainly wanted to know, or rather share with the industry, Jorge’s thoughts on what it would take to produce more volume and more varietals in the years to come, something consumers are desperately asking for. As the sales and marketing lead on this exciting product, I admit it comes with incredible challenges. The most difficult part is balancing the risk that producers take on while consumers learn more about the product, which is why I am adamant about the education component of this line. Essentially, Jorge’s answer put the responsibility {or mango} in our sales court, noting that it’s just a matter of people buying it and allowing us to learn how to do it well. We all know this means a long-term, brick-by-brick (mango-by-mango) plan.
Brian Dey will touch on this very same idea (brick by brick/mango by mango) in a later edition of the 3 Minute Series, discussing retail, consumer, and store staff knowledge. He emphasizes that the education component—recipes, posters, how-tos—is key, something many in the industry don’t acknowledge with the significance it deserves, in my opinion. After my conversation with Jorge, I was more convinced than ever that if we want more specialty mangoes in the market, we need to get consumers to buy them. How we do that is by educating.
For the Crespo Organic program and the direct trade model, we have greater long-term access and partnerships throughout the entire chain, making the wholesaler, the retailer, and the consumer partners in the quest for more variety. It’s up to us to teach consumers about the product, which also means we need to learn about it ourselves. For us, this involves the Crespo Organic Kitchen (or me) learning the nuances from a culinary and consumer perspective. From there, we must produce educational paths that deliver this information to the consumer, making the links in the chain between us and the final mango eater pivotal. Equally if not more important, is something I’ve always said- the industry as a whole needs to place more importance on the culinary and flavor experience of the consumer.
Take a listen to Jorge’s thoughts.
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