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ZOOM Cooking Class! (Summer Mango Quenchers)

June 21, 2024

A Crespo Organic Kitchen Cooking Class

Class Description: In this class, you’ll learn how to make thirst-quenching summer mango drinks out of this summer’s bounty of mangoes! Here we will teach you how to whip up our favorite mango thirst-quenchers, perfect on a hot summer’s day. We’ll teach you how to prepare a light fruit-herb fermentation, how to add spice for depth, how to utilize coconut water for maximum hydration, how to create a mango pit syrup for iced tea, and we’ll show you our famous Mango-schino Cherry recipe. This class will demonstrate that you don’t need alcohol to have a good drink. In fact, nonalcoholic drinks can be more refreshing, more hydrating and less depleting of vitamins than alcoholic beverages; not to mention, they won’t make you sleepy in the heat. All of our classes will provide some basic mango education, such as how to choose, store and cut mangoes and a little bit about mango varietal nuances, as well! We’ll also discuss how to pick and choose your flavor pairings and potencies.

Recipes to be Made: (Lightly) Fermented Mango-Peach Herbal Punch; Mango-Lime Coconut Fizz; Sparkling Cherry-Limeade sweetened with Mango Pit Syrup, Mango-schino Cherry Garnish; Rose & Mango Earl Grey Iced Tea

Date: Saturday, June 29th
Time: 5:00 PM CST
Location: VIRTUAL! Watch on Instagram live or follow along on Zoom

Details:
Participate Via Zoom
Meeting ID: 901 448 2782
Passcode: MangoMania

Class Notes: There is some prep work needed for this class so check out the  PRE-CLASS NEEDS Photo on this post for all the details plus the full ingredient list you will need!

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Featured, Kitchen, News

2024 Summer Mango Mania Events!

June 21, 2024

Sweet mango-centric something’s for everyone……

 

Under The Mango Tree #SundayFunday Recipe Drop (Sundays)
Every Sunday Nissa publishes a new recipe from the Crespo Kitchen. Every season she Pushes Boundaries and comes up with creative new ideas that are easy to replicate out in the wilds of the world!

{Extra}Ordinary Monday #MangoJoy (Mondays)
As part of our {extra}Ordinary People series, {Extra}Ordinary Monday #MangoJoy showcases the joy that people experience when surrounded by mangoes, including celebrities like Cardi B. We are also featuring a variety of other folks from all walks of life: wine students, marines, jujitsu practitioners, mothers, teachers, dads, and even a gorilla.

#MangoJoy is real, and we want everyone to share it abundantly. Every Monday, our social media feed will showcase someone special and their contribution to #MangoJoy. We warn you now, it comes in various forms and is totally contagious! We hope you join in and share as we flood our stories with even more mango joy. Tag us and we will share your #MangoJoy.

#ChooseYourCut – A Lesson in Mango Cutting (Saturdays)
Cutting a mango can often be the biggest challenge or even sometimes the biggest deterrent when eating mangoes! Every week on Saturdays, all summer long we will be here to show you that YOU CAN cut mangoes with ease.  The Crespo Organic Kitchen will be featuring  our five special mango cuts: The Hedge Hog, The Cut & Slice, The Peel & Slice, The Mango Hack, and The Mexican Flower Method (for the pros, but very satisfying).

Our motto when it comes to mangoes is everyone can do it (even kids!) and the choice is yours! We teach mango cutters to choose whichever option best suits the cutters skillset and end needs, while considering the varietal, size and ripeness of the mango. With a little technique, plus a few tips and tricks from  our Crespo Organic Kitchen culinary pro’s, you can choose the best cutting option for you and your mango!

#CrespoPeople {Reels} Sunday (Sundays)
Crespo Organic is a Mexican organic produce brand specializing in the production, distribution, and marketing of organic mangoes. The brand is part of El Grupo Crespo, a Mexican family business that began around 1960 with local market chili peppers and rapidly expanded into the production and packing of fresh mangoes. Crespo Organic Mangoes/RCF Distributors (El Grupo Crespo’s USA distribution and marketing company) is one of the largest Mexican direct-trade growers, shippers, and marketers, as well as direct consumer product educators of organic mangoes in North America.

We grow, ship, and pack mangoes from all over Mexico, and we market them all over North America. Our people are the roots of our brand, and we want you to know us! Jump onto Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok every Sunday during Summer Mango Mania and learn who we are. “We” also includes our customers, retailers, and shoppers, including the little Crespo niños out there! Follow the hashtag #CrespoPeople to never miss out on learning about these people YEAR-ROUND!

 3 Minute Mango Expertise from Under The Mango Tree (Wednesdays)
By giving just 3 minutes of your time once a week, you can gain top-notch MANGO EXPERTISE from our resident mango crackerjack. Join Nissa during Summer Mango Mania in July and watch and learn from wherever you are. She explores every aspect of the mango supply chain, from orchard to table, to find the experts and advice we need most. Known for her passion for education, Nissa believes that access to information creates positive change—this is her way of providing it in a sweet, simple dose of just 3 minutes! You will find each episode on Under The Mango Tree, Nissa’s Linked in and Crespo’s You Tube Page!

 Are You “CURIO” About Spices & Mangoes? (Wednesdays)
If you follow Crespo Organic Kitchen, you’re aware of our dedication to infusing spice into our mango recipes. Our enthusiasm stems largely from our total obsession with Curio Spice Company, renowned for its exceptional roster of ethical spices. Aligned with our shared mission, which aims to enhance the livelihoods of farmers and farming communitie, our brand was established to do this in Mexico and in our farming communities and theirs globally and in their local backyard of Boston. Direct sourcing & supply is our straight line and theirs and certainly we align even further on the culinary education, innovation and general sharing of knowledge that they do exceptionally well!

Every Week during Summer Mango Mania, with Curio as our muse, Nissa, our resident mango crackerjack, will showcase the art of spicing mango recipes, shedding light on her favorite  curio spices while introducing both familiar and novel mango recipes. These spiced creations will be spotlighted on Crespo’s IG channel through posts, reels, stories, or live sessions.

To further intensify the spice (who doesn’t like it hot & spicy??), we’re offering a weekly giveaway featuring one of Curio’s spices featured in our weekly recipes. To participate and stand a chance to win, simply share the weekly Curio Spiced Mango Recipe to your Instagram story, tag us @CrespoOrganic and Curio @CurioSpice

 Authentic Mexico  (Snapshots of People  & Culture) (Wednesdays)
Sharing our Mexican culture is a big part of our brand mission. This not only means educating about our farming communities in Mexico but also sharing the people, food, and recipes of our land and paying attention to how they merge into other cultures!

Every Wednesday during Summer Mango Mania, we give you a sweet glimmer of all the #MangoJoy in recipe and food form from the streets of Mexico—Sinaloa, Oaxaca, and Chiapas—as well as our warehouse border home bases in Nogales, AZ, and McAllen, TX. We’ve got some special snapshots coming from Mazatlán and Mexico City this season too!

 Facebook Giveaway Monday (Mondays)
This one is as simple as – We’re Givin’ Stuff Away But You Gotta Work For It! Head to Facebook @CrespoOrganic  ever Monday at 12 CST to join in in the fun, everything from a case of dried mangoes to T-Shirts and Hats! We are giving folks for the month of July!

 Friday Night Kitchen Reels! (Fridays)
Every Friday night we teach you how to make our favorite summer recipes in video form! The Salt Gypsy ( Tina DeGraff and our own in-house mango crackerjack Nissa demonstrates the do’s and don’ts of the tastiest mango recipes and whether you are out on the town of cuddled into the couch you can learn on the fly!

I Spy #CrespoOrganicMangoes (Fridays)
This is a fun way to interact with our mangoes and shower our retailers with love. Post all week on any aspect of Instagram, Facebook or Linked photos or videos of Crespo Organic Mangoes (Fresh or Dried) on your local retailers display. Tag us and tag the retailer (must tag both!) Every Friday we pick a random winner, as we showcase all of our beautiful mango displays around the country. You have the entire month of July to win, the more you post, the more chances you have to win. (Post must be different each time, you can’t just repost over and over!)

IG Giveaway Thursday (Thursdays)
This one is as simple and exact  as the Facebook giveaway – We’re Givin’ Stuff Away But You Gotta Work For It! Head to our IG page @CrespoOrganic  every Monday at  12 CST to join in in the fun, everything from a case of dried mangoes to T-Shirts and Hats! We are giving folks for the month of July!

 Mango Queen Monday (Mondays)
The launch of the Crespo Organic Mango Queen specialty mango line has sparked significant excitement, and it’s now time to further enlighten consumers about these uniquely lavish mangoes. Offering three special varietals, the Mango Queen line is set to continue to captivate consumers with its premium offerings. Through the weekly Summer Mango Mania event, Nissa will share Crespo family’s history in specialty mangoes and their remarkable industry achievement, highlighting the brand’s meticulous approach to introducing these mangoes and its dedication to consumer education, showcased through innovative packaging solutions. Emphasizing cultural respect for the Indian and Thai origin mangoes grown in Mexico, Nissa invites you to join her weekly sessions Under the Mango Tree for a rich array of video content, recipes, tips, and tricks derived from her extensive culinary and mango expertise. Look out for her blog posts on various social media platforms to support this special and engaging venture!

In- Store Mango Tasting & Cutting Demos  (Varies)
Join us as we spread #MangoJoy in person and discover from the source what mango shoppers really want! All season long, the Crespo Organic Kitchen team hits the road to meet mango lovers in person. Despite the busy Summer Mango Mania, we make time to engage with Crespo fans, teach them about our mangoes, and learn from their feedback. Everyone gets a chance to taste our delicious mangoes, buy mangoes on sale, and help us improve.

We rotate a small team among stores on each coast and in the Midwest. Each store features mangoes on sale with a big, beautiful display. This joyous process allows us to learn more about our mango shoppers’ needs and ensures they have a great time at our displays while learning about mangoes. One taste of mango at a time, we educate, engage, excite, and entice—this is the essence of Summer Mango Mania.

Juicy Mango Expertise (Saturdays)
We have gathered all our friends who make what we do possible. From orchard to table, we have it covered, advise from the experts in their field- the mango orchards, the packhouse, food safety & certifications, merchandising, retail price-points, recipe development, mango photography, videography and copy; taste testers, Category managers and some kids! For all of July, once a week we bring you tips, tricks, insight and even some truths and lies. Lots of humor and lots of education!

July Ripe Mango Challenge (Wednesdays)
Ripe mangoes are a problem that non mango lovers just can’t understand, but for those of us that fill our fruit bowls with #MuchosMangoes, the problem is real and it can hurt the heart to miss the window on the optimal time to enjoy your ripe mango!

Every summer, as part of Summer Mango Mania in July, we focus on providing solutions for handling ripe mangoes. Our featured tips and tricks cover how to assess ripeness before mangoes become overripe and what to do with them once they reach that stage. Join us as we explore the art of creating mango puree and discover why keeping ripe mango puree in your fridge can lead to spontaneous summer delights. Learn how to chop and freeze mangoes for easy access to make pies, tarts, and refreshing beverages to beat the heat. And, of course, expect a delightful dose of popsicle madness, fitting for the summer season!

KICK It with Us! (Kids in the Crespo Kitchen) (Saturdays)
KICK (Kids in the Crespo Kitchen) aims to spark the culinary passion in your little niños by encouraging them to join in the kitchen activities alongside adults and even independently. Engaging children in cooking not only introduces them to new dishes but also nurtures their adventurous taste buds. Mangoes stand out as the ideal ingredient to entice kids into the kitchen due to their sweetness, unique tropical flavor, and nutritional benefits. Let’s face it #MangoJoy is real and kids know it!  Throughout July, our KICK team, comprising professional culinary folks and real live kids, will share valuable insights, tips, and creative ideas to make kitchen experiences fun and exciting for niños of all ages.  Explore a variety of recipes crafted by our in-house KICK chef, #ChefSvea, who started developing culinary skills at the age of 10 and is now 21. By playing along, not only will your kids develop a fondness for mangoes but also embrace a healthier diet rich in fruits and vegetables. Join us for a collection of engaging activities with personalities like #IvinTheYouTubeStar, Luis Roberto Investigative Reporter, Levi the Mango Chooser and other {extra}ordinary niños! There are no age restrictions for learning in the kitchen, and we are going to prove it!

Let’s Ask the Chef! (Wednesdays)
Every Tuesday throughout Summer Mango Mania we will share #MangoJoy from some of our favorite Chefs and Mixologists. We give them some mangoes; they make mango magic. It’s the purest kind of joy there is.

We cover a wide spectrum of cuisine and expertise with this summer’s chosen chefs and mixologists and every week you get to learn who they are, how they got where there are and what they made with our mangoes!

Nissa kicks off the series herself on Tuesday June 25th. She will announce the featured chefs and mixologists for the month of July and give you insight into her own culinary story.  She’ll do this all live while making Summer Mango Buns in her woodboring pizza oven!

Tuesday July 2cnd –Jessica Botta/Chef & Culinary Instructor (Baking with Mangoes!)
Tuesday July 9th  –  Yarra Herrera/Chef Hellbender, NYC
Tuesday July 16th  – Vilda Gonzalez/Chef, Cookbook Author (The Fishwife Cookbook Spring 2025)
Tuesday July 23rd  – Laura Sanfilippo & Tara Heffernan/Mixologists, Lo and Behold (Cocktails & Mangoes
Tuesday July 30th  – Palak Patel/Chef, Author, Beat Bobby Flay ( Food is Love Giveaway!)

Live From the Crespo Organic Kitchen (Sundays)
We let you in the Crespo Organic test kitchen live where Yahmina and Nissa and some special guests will be making all kinds of mango concoctions and working on mango mania joy!

 

Yahmina’s Choosing (How To Select Mangoes) (Wednesdays)
Yahmina is a key member of the Crespo mango crew frequently found in stores conducting Mango Tastings & Cutting Demos. Through firsthand experience, she’s familiar with the common queries of mango lovers when selecting mangoes. Cookie cutter industry fake news, not every consumer seeks a ripe, ready-to-eat mango at point of purchase. Yahmina’s insight recognizes the importance of offering help so mango lovers evaluate and understand their varying preferences and this weekly selection educational will do just that!

Whether you plan to enjoy your mangoes immediately after purchase, reserve them for an upcoming #TacoTuesday, use them in a cake or salad, or experiment with the Mango Hack, Yahmina is here to help. Drawing from popular questions during mango demonstrations, she will provide all the answers and equip you with essential tips and tricks for selecting the ideal mango for your next moment of #MangoJoy.

 Mango Higher-Ed  (aka CRESPO MANGO SCHOOL) (Mondays)
Schools in for the summer! And it’s the sweetest of all summer schools.  Once a week we flood your social media feeds with education on how mangoes go from orchard to table. It’s a big process- and oh yeah, we have a class called “Our Process”- same with “Our Story” and “Our Home”.  In addition, mango lovers learn about Mango Blooms, the hot water bath and a bevy of other mango related subjects. Basically you’ll get all the sweet deets on where your food comes from as it pertains to mangoes!

 Mango Libation Monday’s (Mondays)
Whether you drink alcohol or not by the end of Monday most of us need some way to unwind and quench the thirst that got drained from us on an ordinary Monday. Mango Libation Mondays celebrates the power of mangoes in liquid form. Not only will our social media feeds be filled with recipes, ideas and tips on how to drink mangoes (with or without the booze) but we go live on occasion to show your some of the Crespo Organic Kitchen favorites, plus a few impromptu treats as we are known for! We will feature some of our favorite mixologists as well on this month-long libation filled journey.

If you like booze, we will teach you about some of our favorite Mexican liquor makers, celebrating all things #HechoEnMexico. And for the booze free we offer delicious booze free options on the classics.  The Modern Mango Margarita, plus a fun GIVEAWAY will be featured. We kick off the series live with our non-alcoholic fizzy mango elixir that will wow you and be in your  daily summer rotation!

Meet The Crespo’s (The Original Crespo People) (Tuesdays)Crespo Organic is a Mexican organic produce brand specializing in the production, distribution, and marketing of organic mangoes. The brand is part of El Grupo Crespo, a Mexican family business that began around 1960 with local market chili peppers and rapidly expanded into the production and packing of fresh mangoes. Crespo Organic Mangoes/RCF Distributors (El Grupo Crespo’s USA distribution and marketing company) is one of the largest Mexican direct-trade growers, shippers, and marketers, as well as direct consumer product educators of organic mangoes in North America.

Jump onto Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok every Tuesday during Summer Mango Mania and learn about the family behind the brand! Each week, we will feature one of the Crespo’s and highlight everything from what they do for the family business to how their mango life started and at what age. We will also find out everyone’s favorite mango variety

Nissa’s  Mango Book Club  (Wednesdays)
Oprah did it. Reece did it and now Crespo Organic is jumping into the world of book clubs, but with a mango twist! Book lovers can dive into a literary adventure while savoring the sweetness of mangoes and Summer Mango Mania- destress with us, read with us, celebrate all things mango alongside us!

Mango season is a bustling time for all of us involved in production and distribution. It’s a period filled with chaos and hustle within a short timeframe. Nissa & Yahmina have always engaged in the calming power of books, finding solace and respite from the grind in reading. We thought it a great idea to share in the #MangoJoy with other fellow readers who are also mango lovers!

Each mango season, we carefully select a book that resonates with our mango-loving souls. Whether it’s set in lush orchards, production zones, or features characters with a passion for mangoes, our choices are designed to spark mango curiosity.

At the onset of Summer Mango Mania, Nissa will introduce the book and then throughout the season, we will all leisurely read, with weekly check-ins from our Crespo Culinary staff for our fellow readers to chime in their thoughts along the journey. We will offer mango-centric recipes perfect for eating while reading books .

The experience comes to a close with a laid-back ZOOM book club meeting, where participants can come together to discuss and connect- optimizing collective #MangoJoy. To add flavor to the discussion, the Crespo Organic Kitchen will provide a special mocktail and nibble recipe inspired by the book. Get ready for a casual and organic book club experience that pairs perfectly with the summer mango vibes.

 Our  Mango Packhouse ~ El Original (Empaque Don Jorge) (Thursdays & Saturdays)
Our Summer Mango Mania excitement wouldn’t be complete without taking a close look at the place that has done all the heavy lifting since the 80’s. Empaque Don Jorge, our home, our mango packhouse! Our everything! With the capacity to pack over a million pounds of mangoes per day in peak season, this spectacular place will wow you!

Bringing mangoes from the orchard to your table is no easy feat. Throughout the summer, we’ll offer firsthand insights into the challenges of this process and proudly showcase our state-of-the-art, efficient mango packhouse as an integral part of this journey. Oh and we want to make sure our Spanish speakers get easy access so we’ll be slappin’ down content in Español regularly with this one!

Empaque Don Jorge, situated in Rosario, Sinaloa, is a cutting-edge mango packhouse that’s been part of the Crespo family legacy since the early days. These days its been totally revamped and boasts a modern infrastructure and efficiency to handle large volumes of mangoes, both conventional and organic, including meeting USDA hot water treatment requirements. The packhouse is THE significant hub in our summer supply chain, ensuring product quality, food safety, and compliance while enhancing the sustainability of mango programs. With various updates and expansions, Empaque Don Jorge stands out for its advanced facilities and commitment to providing quality mangoes to the US and Canadian markets. The packhouse also plays a crucial role in supporting local communities by offering year-round employment and maintaining high standards of labor and operational practices. All of that and more is what to expect!

Pushing Boundaries (Recipe Testing with Nissa) (Thursdays)
The mastermind behind the Crespo Organic Kitchen and our in-house crackerjack, Nissa Pierson (and yes she also manages the entire organic category as the full-time part of her gig with El Grupo Crespo) is a long time recipe developer and loves to make new recipe ideas for mango lovers.

 Recipe Roulette with Mango Hunter Jeff Ray ( Fridays)
Jeff has asked us a lot similar questions to what we receive in our inbox every day from our followers and mango customers as they start to increase the quantity of their mango purchases, the top question being“ how can we use them?”

We have spent a lot of time thoughtfully thinking about this question and pairing our ideas with the very real challenges home cooks have; time constraints and ease of recipe being the main struggle.  We were born to give useful tips, ideas and solutions for the everyday mango shoppers.

We not only create recipes that are (mostly) fairly easy to execute and re-creatable for home cooks in any region of the US, but recipes that are enjoyable to make, healthy to eat, and above all mango-centric recipes that cookers will want to make over and over again, and they will never feel like we’ve just haphazardly added chopped mango to a normal recipe.

Together with Jeff we came up with a fun game for Summer Mango Mania: Recipe Roulette.

The goal is simple he re-creates a few of our mango recipes and critiques them in terms of ease, flavor, #MangoJoy and above all would he re-create it or recommend to others that they make it?The series launches by Mango Hunter’s viewers voting on three recipes he will recreate in July and then he does his magic, and we prove that we’ve done ours! Tune into both Instagram channels (@JeffRayFilms & @CrespoOrganic) to watch all the mango magic!

 Taco Tuesday (DUH) ( Tuesdays)
Join #TheCrespoOrganicKitchen on #TacoTuesday. We will feature a bombardment of modern and traditional taco everything, hoping to not just inspire for more mango and taco use, but so that our mango lovers can take their tacos to the next level!

We’ll showcase  an array of the best of Crespo Organic Kitchen all all our favorite taco and taco accompany recipes like our Mango Margarita Pit that utilizes the Mango pit, the perfect mixer cocktail or mocktail versions of a margarita- aka best  drink to have with tacos. And yes, our Crespo Sinaloa Sauce, Taco Sauce, Pico de Gallo and more! #TacoTuesday is no joke, this will prove that!

 The Best Dried Mangoes You Ever Had! (Wednesdays)
A few years ago, we introduced the Crespo Organic Dried Mango line, bridging the gap between PRODUCE and GROCERY and garnering an enthusiastic following. Customers consistently rave about our dried mangoes, often declaring them the best they’ve ever had. This summer, we’re excited to share all the flavorful details about our beloved dried fruit. From exploring the orchards and packhouse to unveiling the thoughtfully chosen packaging and delving into the unique characteristics of each SKU, complete with testimonials. We’ll also showcase the snacking versatility, health benefits, and nutritional value of our dried mangoes, along with creative ideas for incorporating them into your culinary repertoire. Stay tuned for a sneak peek at our upcoming e-commerce website launch this fall, where you can easily purchase your own supply of #MangoJoy in the form of our delicious dried mangoes!

 Treats On The Streets ( Varies)
By collecting data on mango consumer behavior, preferences, and feedback, we gain valuable insights into what mango lovers appreciate and they loathe, extending beyond our brand and mangoes to include recipes and commodity education. These insights enable us to tailor offerings to better meet the needs and expectations of mango shoppers, ultimately increasing the overall mango experience.

Collaborating with our retailers, we can together enhance the overall mango shopper experience, both in-store and beyond, ensuring satisfaction from orchard to table. The final sweet result is happier mango customers and more #MangoJoy.

Throughout July, in various cities nationwide, our dedicated #CrespoPeople (staff and volunteers) will be hitting the streets to engage in insightful discussions and fun mango-related activities (on camera and off) in exchange for MANGO REWARDS such as T-shirts, hats, dried mangoes, and fresh fruit! Keep an eye out for us in San Francisco, Brooklyn, Bolinas, McAllen, Kansas City, and Branson this season!

Valeria’s Varietals! ( Tuesdays & Thursdays)
Twice a week throughout Summer Mango Mania, our social media maven, Valeria, gives us juicy information and sweet tips that are varietal-specific, so you can make the most of the #MuchosMangoes that pass through your summer threshold. You will find her varietal-specific mango content on all social media channels! Message her on our Instagram with any varietal questions, tips, or suggestions—she’ll post your questions and the answers!

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 Varietal Wordsmithing – Yahmina’s Weekly Mango Crossword  (Saturdays)
Are you a mango lover and a cruciverbalist? If so, we can make your summer mango mania wordsmithing dreams come true every Saturday morning with Yahmina’s Mango Crossword Puzzle. Share the #MangoJoy with your friends and see who can finish first.

Each week  Yahmina will offer up a new puzzle that features Crespo Organic’s summer mango varietals.  If you need a cheat sheet, our varietal posters will help your cheating heart! Never fear ardent wordsmithers, Yahmina hasn’t made these easy, there are several bonus words in the puzzles that only true #MangoExperts will solve. Yahmina will dish out each weekly puzzle by sharing links to all our social media channels. She’ll share hints for the hard ones on IG the week before!

 Zoom Cooking Classes!
Live hands on zoom classes for those that want to learn a few mango centric recipes! We have a little of everything from the necessary thirst quenching drinks of Summer Mango Quenchers to ##ChooseYourCut A Lesson In Mango Cutting  and an Authentically Mexico Mangonada class where we even make our own homemade chamoy sauce, which of course we use dried mangoes with!

 

Featured, Kitchen

2024 Summer Mango Mania Events Calendar!

June 21, 2024

 

#MuchosMangoes & #MangoJoy Coming Your Way!

Crespo Organic Summer Mango Mania #MuchosMangoes is here and the Crespo Organic Kitchen is, like usual, making it extra special for the month of July. Join in for virtual and in-store mango-experiences and douse yourself with sweet #MangoJoy.

For those of you slow to the mania who may be asking- What the Heck is Crespo Summer Mango Mania?

It’s the collision point between our peak production time in Nayarit & Sinaloa and the height of consumer demand, better known as; SUMMER TIME! For two months, in the heat of the summer, between June and August, while orchards are most copious, Mango Mania frenzy ensues! Crespo Organic Summer Mango Mania desires to Educate, Excite Engage and Entice mango consumers with sweet price points and juicy sales, delicious culinary and educational events and a general spreading of useful, relevant mango education.We offer a full spectrum of creative and reliable resources and experiences, designed to stimulate, and entice purchases at the store level, as well as educate and arouse consumers digitally.

For the entire month of July the Crespo Organic Kitchen, which is essentially the marketing leg and test kitchen for all things Crespo Organic, managed by me (Nissa)  and my company Ger-Nis Culinary & Herb Center  (a boutique food  education,   sales & marketing  and media company;  specializing in local, organic, fair and sustainable food and agriculture), will inundate your feeds and your stores with the most amazing mango-centric education and fun – it’s a mango lovers month of dreams! And rest assured everywhere Crespo Organic mangoes are sold- you will find them ON SALE!

Continue Reading…

Featured, Kitchen

Summer Mango Salads!

June 7, 2024


Easy, breezy mango-centric summer salads that’ll make you love the Tommy Atkins

I dedicate this post the Mango Hunter – Jeff Ray, who is known to occasionally bad mouth the Tommy Atkins on social media. This summer her rejoins our Summer Mango Mania with more Recipe Roulette and we decided to challenge his notions and teach everyone one of the best parts about this firm fleshed mango and its ability to stand on its own in a summer salad- fruit, lettuce or otherwise! You can use any mango in these salads but we prefer the tommy and hope Jeff makes the recipes using them too, just to show us all how versatile these mangoes can be.

Most important our favorite mango-centric summer salad recipes are seasonal, inexpensive to make and easy to whip up. Maybe most importantly that can feed a hungry crowd (elegant or casual) and please them with massive doses of #MangoJoy. With these salads in your mango repertoire you wont just be able to utilize mangoes more efficiently but all fruits, vegetables, vinegars and citrus juices-keeping final dishes light, fresh and healthy.

Continue Reading…

Featured, Kitchen

Mango & Blackberry Cheese Danish

April 26, 2024

A nostalgic childhood memory and an easy {mango-centric} weekend endeavor

As a child, I adored cheese Danishes. Back then (yes, I’m that old) local bakeries were abundant, crafting freshly baked goods daily. Starbucks hadn’t emerged yet, so those artificially flavored, preservative-laden pastries were rare, mainly found in gas stations, packaged for on-the-go consumption. Ironically, even those seemed fresher than today’s Starbucks versions, which appear designed (and grossly) to last indefinitely.

One particular cheese Danish memory from a bakery in Solvang, CA, remains etched in my memory after spending a day there with my dad as a kid. If you ever find yourself near Solvang, CA, a quaint Danish settlement nestled just off the coast in the Santa Ynez Valley amidst vineyards and European-style bakeries, you must indulge. The town still exudes Danish charm, and its bakeries craft the perfect cheese Danish, often with the freshest California fruits transformed into delectable jams strewn atop the Danishes.

A cheese Danish is a pastry with a creamy cheese filling encased in a flaky pastry crust, sometimes enhanced with fruit jam. It’s a cherished pastry worldwide, especially in Denmark, and it’s everywhere in Solvang! Continue Reading…

Featured, Kitchen

Culinary Prowess

March 8, 2024

Women’s History Month, Women’s Day and a Woman’s Work

It’s in the best interest of the industry to prioritize the meaningful inclusion of women in all facets of our business, especially positions of power and decision-making. The rich and intricate knowledge held by women remains an underutilized resource and, in a world, where resources are becoming increasingly scarce, neglecting this valuable asset, appears to me, a form of maleficence.

We grow and sell food and it’s a fact that women know more about food than men.  From farm to fork, orchard to table, we all benefit instantly from the inclusion of women. I want to focus on one specific, personally significant space in which women’s knowledge and real life experience is often overlooked in our business —women’s culinary prowess. The culinary expertise of women is a rich treasure trove, directly influencing and contributing significantly to the overall chain’s profitability and sustainability. This impact extends all the way to consumers, ensuring they experience  ultimate value, top-notch quality, and an optimal level of excitement – or, in the language of mango enthusiasts, #mangojoy.

Patriarchal placement put women in the kitchen and it has also unequivocally ignored the incredible insight and wisdom they gained from being put there. In our business of growing food and selling food it seems so ludicrous that women still have to fight for inclusion in particular in this light.

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Featured, Kitchen

Mango Chutney

December 20, 2023

Your new year-round mango condiment

Chutney is essentially a blend of fruit, vinegar, sugar, and spices cooked down into a textured sauce. It’s one of the oldest condiments. This versatile sweet and spicy Indian version needs a permanent place in your food repertoire. Use it as an accompaniment on cheese boards or better yet on grilled cheese sandwiches. It can also be used to flavor  curries, meats and stews, or as a topping, adding both sweet and spicy elements to any dish. The mango tames the spice but doesn’t hide it. Opt for firmer-fleshed ripe mangoes, such as Tommy Atkins, to maintain their shape after cooking.

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Farm, Featured, Kitchen, News

A Christmas Mango Teaser

December 20, 2023

Generally jolly good orchard news,  a sprinkle of bah humbug
& my best holiday mango recipes

 Roberto Crespo, a member of the #HermanosCrespos “band” or what I consider the lead singer of our south, is currently and like usual, deeply rooted in the soils of Oaxaca and Chiapas preparing for the season start up.  This week he is sharing some encouraging updates direct from our Mexican mango orchards down there, which feels like the best Christmas news ever! He sprinkles a little bah humbug on our festive mood, reporting of some serious wind currently swirling the orchards, noting it could be concerning for fruit supply farther into the season. I will report back with my usual New Year/ New Season Mexican Mango Predictions next week with more details from Roberto.  Consider this just a little teaser of Christmas hope before we all break for the holiday. Today, I want mostly to sprinkle a bit of #MangoJoy on us for the Mexican mango season ahead with the scarcity of positive offshore organic mango news, I thought some flashes of good news would be a nice change.

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Featured, Kitchen

Mango Milk Candy

October 16, 2023

 

 

Mango dulce de Leche, made with mangoes, made into flan

 Several years ago, under pressure to create new Halloween recipes, I had the brilliant idea (a hypothesis at the time) to make caramel using nothing but mangoes. Since mangoes contain significant natural sugar, why wouldn’t they, in pureed form, caramelize like sugar and water do when heated at a high temperature? Well, they do, and I was right. That fall, “Mango Caramel 3 Ways” was born.

During those fall explorations I created 3 unique caramel recipes, all utilizing mango puree as the base or main ingredient – Salted Mango Caramel, with butter, cream and salt, Faux Mango Caramel– which is technically a vegan sugar-free caramel and one of the healthiest options for caramel lovers, and a Tropical Vegan Mango Dulce de Leche, my twist on the oven made hack that uses a can of sweetened condensed milk and a hot oven to make dulce de leche.

This fall I have new mango caramel recipe for authentic dulce de leche, the one I left out on my original mango caramel experiments.  I left it out partly because it proved to be the most challenging in terms of achieving a result that captures the essence and texture of true dulce de leche. After tinkering with various ideas over the years I finally, with a little encouragement from Mango Hunter Jeff Ray, figured out how to bring it to life.

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Featured, Kitchen, News

Crespo Organic Debuts Opulent Specialty Mango Tags

July 2, 2023

Educational, Insightful, & Strategic Packaging

Mango Queen Specialty Mangoes- Check out the site!

I am very proud of the  work we are releasing today with the launch of the new Mango Queen specialty mango line!! I am very proud of the  Crespo Organic Mango brand in general– not just in relation to my work in creating its modern form, but also the work of the countless others in El Grupo Crespo who shaped it’s reality, regardless of the marketing. The brand is essentially a modern manifestation of founder Roberto Crespo Fitch’s original vision: that hard work, expertise, and innovation toward growing quality mangoes, while nurturing the community on which said mangoes are grown, will bring success. Success for the family, the business, the community, and mango eaters, too.

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