The Orlando, Fla.-based National Mango Board has expanded its selection of mango marketing resources, according to a news release.

Offerings now include consumer insights, sales-trend data, handling and merchandising tips, as well as updates to the Mango Marketing Toolkit, a graphics resource center, the release said.

The resources are delivered via the retailer section of www.mango.org.

The mango board's new Mango Category Retailer Toolkit, developed with the help of Dundee, Ill.-based The Perishables Group and others, highlights sales and volume trends, consumer demographics, merchandising practices and promotional strategies, according to the release.

Also available are the board's Mango Handling Quick Reference Sheets for Retailers.

The Retail Store and Warehouse version highlights mango merchandising and handling best practices for these two stages in the distribution system, as well as mango basics that can help store-level associates educate their customers about mangoes.

The Maturity, Ripeness and Defects version is intended for receiving and quality control associates. It explains how mango maturity, quality and ripeness relate to each other and provides photos and descriptions of the most common defects that might be seen on mangoes.

The Mango Marketing Toolkit, available online at Mango.org/graphics has been updated to include new photos, new point-of-sale offerings, line drawings of how to cut a mango and more, according to the release.

"We hear directly from retailers across the U.S. that they are hungry for information and resources to help them build their mango business, and we strive to give them the tools they need," said Wendy McManus, the mango board's director of marketing.


(Written and/or edited by Tom Burfield, Western correspondent for The Packer. The Packer and Red Book Credit Services are part of food360º, a division of Vance Publishing Corp., Lincolnshire, Ill.)

E-mail Tom Burfield