Staying true to its tagline declaring its expertise in the mango business, Crespo Organic Mangoes will launch a new line of dried mangoes at the International Fresh Produce Association Global Produce and Floral Show in Orlando next week.

Nissa Pierson, who handles sales and marketing for the Crespo Organic brand, told OPN Connect that the first load of organic dried mangoes, available in both bulk and retail packs, was scheduled to cross the border in Nogales, AZ, this week and be on retailer shelves just a few days later. 

Nissa Pierson, Sales and Marketing, Crespo Organic Mangoes

One Crespo Organic dried mango option features the Kent and Keitt varieties and offers a sweet, rich, and vibrant tropical taste. Crespo also has a dried organic Ataulfo option, a uniquely Mexican mango with a buttery and creamy texture. Both offerings are available in bulk as well as in 4-ounce and 1-pound retail-ready zip pouches.

Pierson said that Crespo Organic will also introduce a dried Ataulfo con Chile y Limon option, which recreates one of Mexico’s most prized street foods into a sweet and spicy portable snack. That organic dried fruit variety should be available to the retail trade by June 2023.

Crespo Organic mangoes in 4-ounce zippered pouch bags

The two initial options are 100 percent single-ingredient dried mangoes with no added sugars or any other ingredient. The Chile y Limon Mango will be speckled with a simple organic chili-forward spice blend to mimic that traditional Mexican flavor. Pierson added that all the retail packs of dried organic mangoes will feature “the beautiful branding the Crespo label is known for, with an emphasis on their direct-trade, orchard-to-table, fully integrated agricultural system designed to connect the dots between the family’s Mexican mango farming communities and consumers.”

The packaging and the detailed information on the packaging are points of differentiation for the dried fruit line. Consumers will be able to read about the history of the family company and its mango programs on the retail packs. Pierson noted that this dried organic mango offering is the only brand being sold directly from the grower to the retailer without intermediary distributors.

Pierson added that all the retail packs of dried organic mangoes will feature “the beautiful branding the Crespo label is known for, with an emphasis on their direct-trade, orchard-to-table, fully integrated agricultural system designed to connect the dots between the family’s Mexican mango farming communities and consumers.”

The dried organic mangoes are designed to be sold in the produce department, offering a perfect complement to Crespo Organic fresh mangoes. Pierson, however, said how and where the product is merchandised is the domain of the individual retailers. “Some retailers merchandise their dried fruit in the produce department while others sell them in the grocery aisle. We are offering retail support and working in both arenas,” she said.

Crespo Organic dried mangoes in a 1-pound zippered pouch bag

The Crespo Organic Mangoes team is also working to put the new item into the convenience store sector—including gas stations, airport kiosks, and vending machines—as a perfect snack item.

The launch of this new line has been in the works for several years, Pierson said, and is a logical extension of the Crespo Organic brand, which is grown in Mexico by El Grupo Crespo, a Mexican mango company with deep roots. Roberto Crespo Fitch began growing mangoes in Mexico more than 50 years ago, and the company’s packhouse, Empaque Don Jorge, is the largest mango packing facility in Mexico.

Pierson said, like most companies, El Grupo Crespo is constantly considering how it can grow its footprint and expand. “The company has had tremendous success with its farmers-direct-to-retailers approach,” she said.

“Some retailers merchandise their dried fruit in the produce department while others sell them in the grocery aisle. We are offering retail support and working in both arenas." - Nissa Pierson 

As such, Pierson said buyers are always urging El Grupo Crespo and its US entities, Crespo Organic Mangoes distribution company RCF Distributors, to expand its product line and move into other commodities.

“‘We are the mango experts’,” said Pierson, repeating the company’s tagline. “We decided to focus our attention on what we do best, which is mangoes.”

Crespo Organic dried mangoes in zippered pouches

The National Mango Board recently boasted that mangoes are now the number 10 fruit in volume velocity, compared to 2017 when the mango ranked number 17. With family ties to a large dried mango processing plant in Mexico, El Grupo Crespo decided to create its own product and market it in much the same way that it sells its fresh mangoes—direct to the retail trade.

“We were supposed to launch this program two years ago, but we were delayed by COVID,” Person said, citing the supply chain challenges that made it difficult to launch any new product over the last two years.

The National Mango Board recently boasted that mangoes are now the number 10 fruit in volume velocity, compared to 2017 when the mango ranked number 17.

But with those hurdles in the rearview mirror, Crespo Organic Dried Mangoes are now a reality. Pierson said this new line is an excellent way to extend the season beyond the end of fresh production in September. This season, Pierson said dried fruit supplies are limited “and we expect to sell out early.”

In 2023, the company will begin processing fresh mangoes into dried fruit early in the Mexican mango season, so it will have a much more robust supply and can extend the program throughout the year. The company also expects to expand its varietal offerings as it grows demand.

The mangoes are dried in a state-of-the-art, certified organic, and kosher mango drying facility in the Crespos' hometown of El Rosario, Sinaloa, Mexico, under a partnership with one of the Crespo sibling’s in-laws, keeping “la familia” an integral part of the future.