In 2005, the year the National Mango Board was launched, the per capita consumption in the United States of what is often called the world’s most popular fruit was at a pedestrian 1.9 pounds per person. As NMB was recently celebrating its 20th anniversary, it proudly pointed out that the consumption level has almost doubled to 3.5 pounds per person.

“There is still lots of opportunity for future growth,” NMB Executive Director Ramon Ojeda recently told The Produce News.

He reasoned that a tracking survey sent to 1,000 homes on regular basis for the last dozen years reveals that only about one in four households has a mango on hand at any time. “The opportunity is there for a lot of growth,” he reported.

In fact, he said that the biggest challenge facing the mango industry moving forward is to match mango supply with demand. Ojeda added that it is not a winning growth strategy to create demand when, for one reason or another, you don’t have the supply to fill that demand. 

The board’s third executive leader during those 20 years said NMB is addressing those challenges on many different fronts, which he articulated. First, Ojeda wanted to step back and honor the work that has been done over the last two decades that has led to the phenomenal growth. The National Mango board did just that during the annual gathering it holds in conjunction with the International Fresh Produce Association’s October trade show, which was held in Anaheim, CA, this year.