The fruit now costs four times more than it did in June 2021
14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 16 June 2024 — “This year is going to be tough,” warned Mauricio when he saw his mango bush covered in flowers a few months ago. Despite living in Havana for more than half a century, this 79-year-old Cienfuegos native still relies on the wisdom of the peasants with whom he grew up. “If it’s full of flowers, it means it will be a time of hunger and want,” he said at the time. And he was not wrong.
The end of May’s rain signals the start of mango season, when consumers can begin enjoying one of the most iconic fruits of the Cuban countryside. Although one can always find trees that bear fruit year-round, or have growth cycles that last months, summer is more commonly the time to savor all the varieties available on the island.
“Those lucky enough to have a mango bush in their garden are safe. They don’t have to pay for it and can even sell whatever they might have left over”
Bizcochuelo, manga, filipino, mamey (named for its reddish pulp), Super-Haden and hilacha are among the many varieties that appear nowadays at market stalls and on pushcarts of street vendors making the rounds through Havana neighborhoods. At the produce market on 19th and B streets in Vedado, which has a much wider and costlier selection than similar operations in the capital, mango season has come early this year. The mangoes here are shiny, with their reddish, green and orange tones on full display.
At 80 pesos a pound, the price of a single mango can easily be in the three digits. A bag of them can cost more than 1,000 pesos. Though this year’s harvest seems to be off to a good start, the abundant supply has not resulted in lower prices. Mangoes now cost four times more than they did in June 2021.
That was the year when currency unification took effect and the convertible peso was abolished. At that time, a pound of mango from the produce market at 19th and B streets cost 20 pesos. It was already going up by the start of the 2022 season before settling at 30 pesos a pound. However, 2023 was when it jumped to 50 pesos as measured by a weekly survey of produce markets conducted by 14ymedio.
“Those lucky enough to have a mango bush in their garden are safe. They don’t have to pay for it and can even sell whatever they might have left over,” says Mauricio, who lives in Havana’s Cotorro neighborhood. “But it’s also a headache because you have to keep an eye out to make sure no one steals them. By the time the bush stops producing, almost no one in this house can close their eyes.”
“The amount of mango we get in July and August is enormous. I don’t know what we would do without that bush”
Mauricio sells some of his crop to several private dealers and a nearby cafe that uses them to make milkshakes. “I pocket a few pesos, which isn’t bad. My wife also makes mango jam and mango slices in syrup, which are a big help in the summer when the grandkids are on vacation and constantly asking for food.”
“The amount of mango we get in July and August is enormous. I don’t know what we would do without that bush, he says.” September, however, is another story. “By then, we are sick of mangoes because we’ve eaten so many. Sometimes I trade them for rice or something else that we need.”
This year, Mauricio’s family is bracing itself for a season with lots of mango but very little else to eat. The flowers that he saw blooming so profusely a few months earlier on the tree in his patio were a warning: “We’re all going to be the color of mango because that’s all we’ll be eating morning, noon and night.”
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