These days, mangoes cost about $1 each at your local food market. They often come from the Philippines or Mexico and have gotten more common in stores this month because the fruit is in season.
But at 2205 Ringwood Ave. in San Jose, boxes of mangoes are sold at five times the value; Generally $50 for a box of 10, but much more for certain varieties. And they fly off the shelves.
These aren't just any mangoes. They were handpicked, packaged and transported almost halfway all over the world – from India.
The sudden influx of Indian mangoes into the South Bay is because of Shastha Foods, an Indian food company based in San Jose whose logo is familiar to many South Asian American cuisines.
The company has been importing Indian mango varieties for purchasers across the West Coast for 3 years. It supplies quite a few Indian grocery stores and its products may even be found at Costco.
But even Shastha wasn't prepared for this recent wave of “mango mania,” which saw greater than 1,100 people line up outside Shastha's warehouse in North San Jose on Sunday for what the corporate calls “Mangofest,” where they offered free personal Tastings are offered of the imported Indian mango varieties that the corporate stocks and sells in its warehouse.
Mangoes are a source of pride for Indians and the Indian diaspora. They are a staple of the Indian weight loss plan in the course of the hot summer months once they are in season, and an ever-present reminder within the off-season. Often called the “king of fruits,” they grow easily resulting from the country's tropical climate and are present in about 1,500 different varieties in India, the Times of India reported.
Kesar and Alphonso mangoes, for instance, come from the western region of India. The vivid yellow kesar are each sweet and sour, while the tangerine-colored alphonso are larger, softer and almost buttery in taste. And the green-red South Indian Rajapuri mango is even larger, more sour and softer in texture, in comparison with the just about egg-shaped green-yellow Rasalu mango, which is smaller, more fibrous and juicier.
Shastha offers around 14 varieties of Indian mangoes on its website and makes a lot of these varieties available for registration and tasting at their events, depending on which of them are able to eat.
Syamala Raghuram, co-founder and president of Shastha Fresh, the corporate's food delivery arm, said they began the tastings after learning in regards to the demand for Indian mangoes from Indian food market customers.
“I can’t just call the mango a fruit, it’s more of an emotion for Indians,” she said.
The company plans to proceed weekly tastings until the top of the mango season at the top of June, Raghuram said.
The large turnout on the events is at the least partly resulting from the influence of local Instagram star Ronil California. California, who uses a pseudonym resulting from his visa status, posted an Instagram reel on his @californiaaa_baybae page about an in-person mango tasting that Shastha hosted at his warehouse on May 5 for his 83,000 followers.
Hours later, the post had 100,000 views and continued to climb to the 1.2 million mark by the day of the event. When the warehouse doors opened on May 5, lines of shoppers were already forming across the constructing and Teslas were looking for parking within the parking zone.
The Californian, who hails from the Indian state of Maharashtra, features desi restaurants and Airbnbs on his Instagram page and posts content geared toward a South Asian audience. He said the corporate asked him to advertise the events they host, equivalent to the mango tasting, due to his large fan base.
Inexpensive mangoes typically available in American supermarkets often pale compared to Indian varieties because they may be crunchy, sour or stringy and lack the familiar sweetness and crunch that many South Asians know and love.
What many individuals of Indian descent seek after Shastha, California says, is the experience of picking a sun-warmed mango from a tree, cutting it open and eating the fruit without bothering to slice and peel it in the course of the juice running down your chin.
“It is a childhood memory of the summer season for everyone in India,” he said.
It hasn't all the time been easy to search out Indian mangoes within the United States, especially once they were banned here in 1989 over fears that pests would spread to American crops. Finally, as former US President George W. Bush visited India in 2006 In order to work with then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on a nuclear pact between the 2 countries, they agreed to a nuclear weapons agreement.
Also a part of the deal? A trade agreement that led to the lifting of the ban on imports of the famous fruit.
“The United States looks forward to eating Indian mangoes,” Bush said on his trip.
The agreement opened up access to the favored fruit for the Bay Area's large Indian population. In 2023, Indian-born residents made up the most important immigrant group in Alameda and Santa Clara counties – a complete of 250,000 residents.
Raghuram said Shastha's goal is to create this experience for everybody, whether or not they are South Asian or not.
“Just like every region in India has its different people, mangoes are also diverse, the taste and aroma are completely different,” she said. “We also wanted to convey this taste to the Americans.”
Anyone who would love to participate in mango tastings can add themselves to the list on the corporate's Eventbrite page.
image credit : www.mercurynews.com