ORLANDO, FL - There’s nothing quite like a perfectly-ripe mango. I remember being introduced to the fruit when it was considered an exotic flavor in the U.S. Today, mango is a staple flavor for many, and we can thank big industry players like Wegmans for that. Over the weekend at Fresh Summit, the National Mango Board (NMB) recognized Wegmans as the 2019 Mango Retailer of the Year. Mary Zink, Produce Category Merchant at Wegmans, was present to accept the award, along with members of the Wegmans produce team, mango industry leaders, and several NMB board members.

“Wegmans truly embodies passion and enthusiasm when selling and promoting mangos,” stated Valda Coryat, Director of Marketing at the NMB. “Its commitment to delivering high quality mangos year-round coupled with strong, knowledge-based sales and marketing has delivered excellent results. By showcasing the flavor and versatility of mangos all year long, retailers such as Wegmans play a crucial role in the mango industry and support our mission to move mangos from exotic to a daily necessity in the U.S. We look forward to our continued work with Mary and the Wegmans team, as well as all our retail partners, in helping them to drive mango awareness and consumption year-round.”

The Mango Retailer of the Year award identifies those that go above and beyond to offer strong, consistent support to the mango industry, delivering outstanding results. Wegmans was selected from over 100 retailers that partner with the NMB across the U.S. This New York-based retailer has excelled in promoting and highlighting both whole and fresh-cut mangos via integrated retail marketing, including Knowledge Based Selling (KBS), expanded displays, demos, recipes, and social media.

“We continue to see incredible growth in total mango sales. It takes an entire village, from our buyers to our ripeners, to make sure that the fruit is at the perfect ripeness for our customers to purchase,” stated Mary Zink, Produce Category Merchant at Wegmans. “It’s our store teams that drive sales through displays, KBS, commitment, and passion.”

Wegmans has promoted mangos year-round using KBS and an emphasis on unique and creative in-store displays that attract and educate customers. These displays highlight fresh-cut mangos beside fresh whole mangos, a tactic that has proven extremely successful in driving sales. This year, promotions during the first half of the year saw incredible results and Wegmans surpassed its sales goal by 20 percent. According to a press release, its winning KBS strategy prepares team members with in-depth knowledge about mangos, including recipes, pairings, equipment needed for demonstration stations, how to serve, and more. This empowers the Wegmans team to be champions of the fruit and master storytellers when speaking to customers.

Another major factor influencing the growth of mangos at Wegmans was the introduction of product ripening. In 2017, Wegmans worked together with the NMB to establish an in-house mango ripening program, which has been a great success. It ripens mangos at all its warehouses and all fresh-cut mango is cut in-house using ripened product. It highlights this “ripe and ready” advantage on signage and displays in-store. Combining quality ripe mangos with an empowered sales team has proven to be key in driving repeat purchases and impressive results for Wegmans.

Congrats to Wegmans on this high honor! For more of the latest news in produce, keep reading ANUK.

National Mango Board Wegmans Markets