Sinaloa, Mexico - Mexican mangos are gaining popularity in the United States, which has almost tripled its mango consumption in the last decade.

Just last year, Mexican producers exported a record 73 million crates of mangos worth almost $500 million. And those figures could increase by up to 30% during the 2017 season, according to market projections quoted by the chairman of the U.S.-based National Mango Board.

Leonardo Ortega said that in 2005 the U.S. consumed less than half a kilogram of mango per person. But by 2016 the number had risen to nearly 1.3 kilograms.

The industry leader thinks that "with good promotion there are ways to stimulate [the U.S. market] to consume more mango."

Ortega spoke at an industry workshop organized by the Association of Rio Fuerte Farmers of Sinaloa, AARFS, whose chairman said that since 65% of the mangos consumed by the United States market are of Mexican origin, Mexican producers have no real competition.

Daniel Ibarra Lugo said mango exporters do not fear the imposition of customs duties on their product because the fruit is not a staple consumer product in the United States.

Mexico exports several mango varieties to the US, including those known as Tommy, Ataulfo, Ken, Keit and Heyden. The states of Chiapas, Michoacán, Oaxaca and Sinaloa are the main producers, but most exports are of Sinaloan origin.

Other countries that consume Mexican mangos are France, Japan, Italy and the UK.

As the 2017 harvest season starts this month, Mexican producers expect to export, to the United States alone, some 45,000 tonnes.