The Executive Director of the National Mango Board, Dr. Ramón Ojeda, was a panelist in several webinars during the International Week of the Ecuadorian Mango, organized by the Mango Foundation of Ecuador.

One of them, 'The National Mango Board and its Impact on the United States Market,' provided a general overview of the National Mango Board's mission and impact in the United States.

The National Mango Board is an organization established in 2005 under the United States Department of Agriculture. Its role is to promote and research the mango market and industry in the country and to further mango consumption in the United States. The programs and administrative structure are funded by importers and mango producers.

"What we do here is provide strategic direction," Ojeda explains. "Our directors, who are selected by the Secretary of Agriculture, are tasked to provide strategic direction as leaders of the industry, so we can further our mission, research, and promotion support."

The mission to increase mango consumption in the United States is achieved by inspiring consumers to eat the fruit through education. The long-term goal is to shift the buyer’s perception of mangoes from an exotic fruit to one consumed daily or weekly in U.S. households.

The organization is divided into four districts: East Coast, Central Zone, Western Central, and Western (which includes Alaska and Hawaii).

Mango production commercial areas in the United States are located in South Florida, The Valley of Coachella in California, The Valley of Rio Grande in Texas, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. 

The United States imports more than 550,000 metric tons of mangoes every year, with a market value exceeding $800 million annually. Ojeda says mango consumption has doubled in the last 18 years, "consumption has gone from 1.9 pounds per person in 2005, when the National Mango Board was created, to 3.6 pounds per person in 2023," he said. "Mangoes now rank eleventh in fruit consumption in the United States."

Annual retailer sales have also increased, in 2023 retailers' mango sales were 491 million dollars per year, an increase of 91 million in comparison to 2003. Consumers spend an average of $318 per week on mangoes.

The organization has partnered with Dr. Ronald Ward from the University of Florida for more than 10 years to calculate the U.S. mango demand. Through monthly surveys, the National Mango Board has monitored ways to expand and penetrate the market. 

The average market penetration, which refers to the measure of how much a product or service is used or sold in a particular market compared to its potential, has been around 23.4% over the past five years. Market intensity, referring to the number of mangoes bought, is 3.5 mangoes per home.