Sun World International, LLC, a global variety development and licensing company, announced the acquisition of the Kankun mango variety from Diazteca, a vertically integrated family business and one of Mexico’s largest mango suppliers. 

This first commercial Sun World mango variety available for license is an addition to its emerging mango breeding and licensing program.

The signing ceremony took place in San Diego, CA  on June 6, 2023, attended by David Marguleas, chief executive officer of Sun World, and Ismael Diaz, director general of Diazteca. 

“For nearly 40 years, Sun World has brought distinctive and flavorful grapes and stone fruit to leading fruit growers around the world,” Marguleas says

“Those growers and others will soon have access to the Kankun mango as the first of many new cultivar  releases we plan to introduce to the global produce industry,” he added.

Marguleas indicated that the  Kankun variety maintains better quality than Tommy Atking through the required hot water treatment process, with an early-ripening harvest advantage.

Diaz commented, “We are pleased to work with the Sun World team to license the unique Kankun variety. Their expertise and history of successful product  commercialization will be invaluable.” 

Diazteca ships over three million mango boxes a year from 2,000 acres in production. Its research team developed the Kankun variety at its farms in Escuinapa, Sinaloa, Mexico. 

After favorable results from testing the variety with leading supermarket retailers, Diazteca and Sun World agreed to a transaction making Kankun broadly available under license to mango growers, marketers, retailers, and consumers worldwide and to enable Sun World researchers to utilize the variety in their breeding program. 

“Sun World continues to expand our portfolio to encompass additional specialty fruit crops, through partnerships like Diazteca and our own variety development initiatives and expertise,” notes Jennifer Petersen, chief science officer for Sun World.

Kankun is currently in limited production in Mexico, with trees available under license from Sun World beginning in 2024. Sun World plans to test the variety within its global licensing network.