Orlando, Fla. – In response to the increase in assessment funding from ½ cent to ¾ cent per pound for whole fresh mangos sold in the United States, the National Mango Board’s (NMB) consumer, retail and foodservice promotions, as well as nutrition, health and food safety research programs will be expanded beginning in Quarter 4.The NMB approved these new projects during their board meeting held Sept. 11-13 in Washington, DC.
Consumer PR & Marketing
With assessment increase funding, which began Sept. 1, 2012, the NMB will execute several exciting initiatives through the Consumer PR & Marketing program, all with a focus on holiday entertaining. This theme will highlight mango’s year-round availability and versatility in recipes.
Media contacts will receive a kit with fresh mangos along with new flavor pairings featuring iconic holiday spices from around the world. The spice pairings are meant to inspire new recipe ideas for media to share with readers for creative holiday entertaining ideas.
The holiday entertaining theme will also be incorporated in expanded Facebook outreach. Using Facebook advertising and giveaways to promote the NMB’s Facebook presence, consumers will participate in mango trivia questions, online photo scavenger hunts and submit recipes or pairing ideas, all driving more engagement with the NMB’s Facebook page.
Additionally, the NMB will create a new video tutorial illustrating how to cut a mango. This tool is critical to educating consumers about mangos and encouraging them to enjoy the fruit at home. The new video will feature NMB Director of Marketing, Megan McKenna, to highlight the organization as a resource for all things mango.
Retail Promotions & Marketing
With the increased assessments, the NMB’s Retail Promotions & Marketing Program is also ramping up for an exciting fourth quarter. Additional retail promotions will take place, including sales contests, demo events and other promotional efforts.
“This increase in promotion funding is a great way for the NMB to show an immediate return to industry members,” says Ronnie Cohen, NMB Chairperson. Additionally, the NMB will be producing new POS materials as well as investing in expanded category development research.
Foodservice PR & Marketing
The NMB’s Foodservice PR & Marketing will also expand in Quarter 4 with additional event sponsorships. The NMB will co-sponsor an editor dinner featuring fresh mangos at the International Foodservice Editorial Council (IFEC) event to deepen relationships with key editors. NMB will also sponsor a break during the National Restaurant Association’s (NRA) Fall Marketing Executive Group (MEG) conference and feature two mango recipes. Attendees of these events often determine marketing promotions as well as menu items.
To continue reaching mango industry members with valuable information and place more mango stories in industry trade magazines and newspapers, the NMB’s Trade PR & Advertising program will also receive an increase in funding beginning Quarter 4.
Research
The NMB’s Research Program will conduct new studies beginning Quarter 4 in an effort to gain more insight into the health benefits of fresh mangos; as well as generate new findings and technology to maximize food safety through the mango supply chain. The following are the additional research studies for Quarter 4:
· Colon and Breast Cell Culture Project
· Human Absorption Trial
· Breast Cancer Preliminary Human Study
· Mango Food Safety Program
The results of these additional research studies will give the mango industry more insight on the role of fresh mangos in nutrition and human health, which will support the NMB’s marketing program with new consumer and nutrition messages. In addition, learning more about mango food safety will help increase awareness of the possible risk points of fruit contamination.
“Executing these programs and additional research studies will provide more information to share with consumers on mango’s nutritional benefits and the mango industry’s high safety standards,” says NMB Executive Director William Watson.
For more information about the NMB’s marketing and research programs, please visit www.mango.org/industry.
About National Mango Board
The National Mango Board is a national promotion and research organization, which is supported by assessments from both domestic and imported mangos. The board was designed to drive awareness and consumption of fresh mangos in the U.S. One cup of mango is only 100 calories, an excellent source of vitamins A and C, a good source of fiber and an amazing source of tropical flavor.
Mango availability per capita has increased 35 percent since 2005 to an estimated 2.53 pounds per year in 2011. Mango import volume for 2011 was 810 million pounds. Learn more at www.mango.org.
Source: National Mango Board
