Nat’l Mango Board Unleashes ‘Mango Mania’

The National Mango Board (NMB) has introduced the first-ever Mango Mania Display Contest, which will run through the month of July. Offering more than $10,000 in cash prizes, the competition is aimed at small retailers with up to 50 stores. Entries are due by Aug. 15, and all contest details are available at www.mango.org/contest.

To encourage participation, the NMB has shipped store kits to retailers with 10 to 50 stores, as listed in the Marketing Guidebook published by Stagnito Media. “Since this is the first year of the contest, we wanted to come out with a big bang and proactively ship contest kits to these retailers,” explained Wendy McManus, marketing director at Orlando, Fla.-based NMB. “This strategy should help spread the word and encourage more stores to get involved in the inaugural year of the Mango Mania Display Contest.”

According to the board, the emphasis on small chains and individually owned stores is an effort to engage retailers that haven’t yet connected with NMB retail account managers. “With three retail account managers and a limited budget for promotions, it’s impossible for us to make direct contact with the hundreds of small retailers out there in a meaningful way,” noted McManus. “This contest should provide them with a dose of mango excitement and education they have never seen before.”

The Mango Mania Display Contest Kit contains the contest flyer with the official rules and entry form, in addition to several pieces of point-of-sale material, a back-room training poster, and a training flyer for running mango demo events.

NMB will award prizes in three store categories: one to five registers, six to nine registers, and 10 registers or more. In each category, nine entries will win prizes, including $1,000 for first place, $750 for second place, $500 for third place, and $200 each for six honorable-mention winners.

Entries will be judged based on the display’s creativity, overall visual appeal, and effectiveness in educating shoppers about mangos. Display entries must be in place for a minimum of seven days during the month of July.

Retailers and suppliers can visit www.mango.org for more information and to order the kits. Winners will be revealed by Sept. 21.

Mango availability per capita has quadrupled since 1990 to an estimated 2.24 pounds per year in 2010, and mango import volume for 2010 was 770 million pounds, according to NMB.