Secrets & Lies Archives - Under the Mango TreeUnder the Mango Tree

Hold On Just a Bit……and Then Let Loose

March 28, 2023

Round fruit inflexible for as lower yields and high demand wreak havoc

When I was a little girl in southern California I used to race my bother on this little honda 50 on my pony Cricket. We would race down this long ass trail next to a creek with all kinds of bends and bumps and even oak branches in our way slapping our faces. Cricket was a fast little pony but in the beginning I used to lose all the time until I learned that I had to hold Cricket’s reins back a little bit on some of the worst turns and bends and bumpy areas; after I learned that move we beat my brother Axel’s ass every time!

These next two weeks are like the bendy turns that Cricket and I learned to race through.

Organic round mango fruit volume will be incredibly inflexible the next 2 weeks followed by a big loosening. This is a tough position, but one that we will transcend and soon forget once normal #MuchosMangoes quantities resume before your tulips bloom.

Culture, Featured, News, Secrets & Lies

Where Is the Spine in International Women’s “Day”?

March 7, 2023

Building bridges: diversity & inclusion

It’s a weird day, this International Woman’s Day thing. It feels important but like we’ve made a very serious topic frivolous by placing it in a “day category”, next to International Ice Cream Day and International Siblings Day. My gut feeling is that this rather uncomfortable topic is placed here between ice cream and siblings because we don’t know what else to do with it. We still don’t know quite how to address real life disparity.

Most search engine results will point browsers to one particular website: InternationalWomensDay.com. As far as I can tell, the site’s origins are untraceable entities except for the fact that John Deer seems to be a sponsor (which feels peculiar and suspicious to me, I won’t lie).

The theme on this site is #EmbraceEquity. Despite this year’s incredibly cheesy (and if you ask me a little too soft for the subject matter) self-hug photographic rendition of the theme, the site manages to capture the most important aspects of equality: diversity and inclusion… “to get the world talking about why equal opportunities aren’t enough.” Citing that: “People start from different places, so true inclusion and belonging require equitable action.”

Farm, Featured, News, Secrets & Lies

Unstained Facts on Southern Ataulfos

February 20, 2023

Uncovering the facts about Ataulfo mango Latex staining & sap injury

This article was originally posted on Under the Mango Tree in February of 2017 and has been updated here.

Over the years, I really thought I understood the major problems affecting the “king of fruits,” specifically the varietals and those from the countries I worked with. Since I have traveled to orchards on multiple continents to examine the fruit and its “afflictions du jour,” I thought I had the facts straight on mango quality. Alas, since I met the Crespo family, I have come to discover that I had barely scratched the surface when it came to mango quality issues.

Like most everyone in the industry, I had to sift through a lot of misinformation about the quality of mangoes, but I tend to ask a lot of questions. And because I am me, I share the information I find. Under The Mango Tree’s goal has always been to get more accurate mango information to buyers, industry folks, and consumers. As we all struggle to compete in the complex agriculture world, this blog has been my attempt at being part of the solution. Talking about commodity imperfections is an important part of that process and an important part of commodity education.

Today I want to talk and share about the dark marks we see on many of the Ataulfo mangoes from time to time and most often from the ones that hail from the southern regions: Chiapas and Oaxaca. The good news in this particular affliction/imperfection is, that the mangoes ripen through the aesthetic imperfections, that tend to be more predominant when at the greener stage (when most of you receive the product), rather nicely and turn golden yellow without many blemishes (when the consumers see it). Harvesting and packhouse behaviors make a difference and so does talking about it.

Farm, Featured, Secrets & Lies

Tommy Atkins = Mi Favorito Mango

January 30, 2023

A deep dive into the when’s, why’s and how’s of the firm fleshed, farmer friendly mango

My favorite mango is a Tommy Atkins, but it’s not because it’s farmer and supply chain friendly. It’s my favorite because it’s culinarily versatile and it also happens to be farmer and supply chain friendly which isn’t a bad thing.

If you google Tommy Atkins, one of the first links is Wikipedia which describes in the first sentence the Tommy as not generally considered the best in terms of sweetness and flavor. If you ask me, this sets up Tommy for a negative bias before you’ve even seen one in real life. Yes, the statement that follows is true, basically saying: it’s grown because it fares well in the production and import supply chain. But, for real, this is a gigantic part of the equation, in all parts of the world, for all commodities. Not unique to Tommy.

Before you hear the retort from an adoring Tommy Atkins fan, based on my professional mango expertise and observations, not to mention my culinary exploits, I want to report that we have harvested the first organic Tommy Atkins from El Grupo Crespo’s southern orchards and, as this glides into your inbox, our southern packhouses are cleaning, polishing, and packing them into several of our most coveted packaging SKU’s: the Crespo Big Box, Net Bags and the old faithful Crespo 4KG case (all of which have been designed to look dashing as both big and small mango displays while also proving strong as stand-alone displays and storage).

Featured, News, Secrets & Lies

Mango Mania Begins- Despite Mango Chaos

June 23, 2022

Climate-induced unpredictability & heightened demand creates chaos in mangoland

The show must go on. Our annual summer promotion, Crespo Organic Summer Mango Mania #MuchosMangoes starts today despite ultra-chaotic, confused markets particularly on the conventional side, which creates significate pressures on the organic side of things. Despite considerably delays with the Nayarit fruit starting, our show goes on and we expect our peak volumes and the mango mania to coincide with the month of July, kind of as planned.

Culture, Featured, News, Secrets & Lies

Los Mochis Transition in Motion

August 16, 2021

McAllen enjoys the last fruits of our labor while Nogales embraces a bit more propaganda

Here is the brief take-away from this article: Hot water baths are not bad, and untreated fruit is not better. The end of the season is complex for all- let facts be your guide.

For a handful of us who grow extensively in the El Rosario area during the Sinaloa season, mango supplies can often be extended all the way into the first week of September. While other broker-sellers move to the untreated Mochis zone (which jump up significantly in price and size), we can stay longer in lower prices and smaller fruit. Naturally, this benefits our volume-driven sellers a great deal, knowing most customers have a price point they must adhere to in order to capture sales. In some regions, consumers will only pay so much for a mango; this is particularly true in the Midwest and on the east coast. So, just a touch below the arbitrary untreated zone line, the Rosario region offers a micro growing region where we can do just that – provide smaller, cheaper mangoes throughout the entire month of August.

Farm, Featured, Secrets & Lies

#OrchardReport

July 13, 2021

The yin and yang of seasonal rains, an abundance of complexities

Someone asked me recently why I haven’t posted anything under my Secrets & Lies category for a while. Most of the truth of my answer was I forgot about it. But buried in that answer is also, I (like everyone) sometimes don’t like to talk about the truth because its complex and I fear people won’t understand, will take it the wrong way or use it against me. When you also speak on behalf of a brand or a big mango system, it can be frightening to put out hard truths.

The lack of communicating existing or potential quality problems is one of the biggest industry secrets and lies there is, as if burying these truths helps anyone. So here I am being the risktaker/bettermaker that I am. Here to not alarm us, but put us into a proactive stance, where information is the key to the successful remainder of the Mexican mango season.

We have been in the midst of a serious drought that has brought a multitude of complexities to the entire Mexican mango season thus far. Those complexities seem likely to continue as seasonal rains have started, pounding the current Sinaloa growing sub regions (around El Rosario and Esquinapa) with lots of water over the last few weeks.

While it’s true that any amount of rain always brings some drought relief, it can also bring with other problems, especially when the pendulum swings to totally to the other side as it has going from no rain to lots at once.

Farm, Featured, News, Secrets & Lies

Foretelling the Mexican Season Wind Down

July 29, 2019

It’s complicated depending on who you ask…..

Currently Crespo Organic is on the downside of peak of Kent season from Sinaloa. The Nayarit region has finished and all packhouses in that region have closed. Our orchards in Sinaloa, which dot the surrounding area of our hometown El Rosario and encircle our main packhouse, Empaque Don Jorge, are brimming with ample volumes and varied sizes. We are currently harvesting Kent mangoes and, in a few weeks, will be harvesting Mexico’s final variety- the Keitt. The best news to report is that the outstanding quality we have seen all season long is currently looking to trend the same through most of August, more than that, I find the foretelling of the end of the Mexican mango season difficult.

Culture, Farm, Featured, People, Secrets & Lies

Empaque Don Jorge (Agricola Crespo)

May 22, 2019

Mango Holding Area, Empaque Don Jorge, El Rosario, Sinaloa Mexico

Boasting the most efficient and modern mango pack house around

Disclaimer: This is a boastful and prideful post about a packing house that I truly believe in. I’m one of a few globally well-traveled industry folks with an extremely diverse make up of commodities, markets, cultures and systems. I have seen a lot of packing houses and “sheds” in my travels and this one is my personal favorite- which is why I’ work with them. Boasting this facility and the Crespo’s is the natural outcome of my true beliefs.

We don’t talk enough about packing houses in our business yet this is the one place that usually solves and/or causes most problems in terms of product quality and food safety. Most fruits and vegetables are harvested and then brought to a packing house or shed where they are then packed into various bulk or retail packaging. These large and small sorting/packing hubs serve as the distribution outlet for the farm and/or the farmers. These facilities can be modern, elaborate, high tech, clean and simple, dirty and even bare bones covered (shaded) tables where things like fresh herbs are packed right out of the field.

Farm, Featured, Secrets & Lies

Mango Truths (Forecasting Summer)

May 8, 2019

Sleuthing through the noise north and south of the border

The truth is not always easy to find. It’s much like self-awareness. You have to have a great deal of will to find it. The current mango market is a strange one that has a lot of folks asking questions about what’s currently happening and what’s next.

In addition to produce being fickle in general, global warming has made forecasting difficult and unpredictable. Making matters worse, the industry is getting ultra-competitive with skinnier profit margins and higher operating costs. Mangoes -all the while- are a booming business. American consumers increasingly clamor for this sweet fruit, and there is little demand slowdown in sight. To-the-minute information is almost impossible to get right and those able to provide it often feel like they’re yielding what little power they have left by sharing it.

Older Posts

Secrets & Lies

Hold On Just a Bit……and Then Let Loose

Round fruit inflexible for as lower yields and high demand wreak havoc

Where Is the Spine in International Women’s “Day”?

Building bridges: diversity & inclusion

Unstained Facts on Southern Ataulfos

Uncovering the facts about Ataulfo mango Latex staining & sap injury

This article was originally posted on Under the Mango Tree in February of 2017 and has been updated here.

Tommy Atkins = Mi Favorito Mango

A deep dive into the when’s, why’s and how’s of the firm fleshed, farmer friendly mango

Mango Mania Begins- Despite Mango Chaos

Climate-induced unpredictability & heightened demand creates chaos in mangoland

Los Mochis Transition in Motion

McAllen enjoys the last fruits of our labor while Nogales embraces a bit more propaganda

#OrchardReport

The yin and yang of seasonal rains, an abundance of complexities

Foretelling the Mexican Season Wind Down

It’s complicated depending on who you ask…..

Empaque Don Jorge (Agricola Crespo)

Mango Truths (Forecasting Summer)

Sleuthing through the noise north and south of the border

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