The upcoming three-day weekend just got a little bit nicer.
The National Mango Board, a mango research and promotion group, is traveling through Tallahassee this Labor Day weekend as part of its first “Mango Joy Ride Tour.”
“You know, in the first round, the excitement is just huge,” Dan Spellman, marketing director for the National Mango Board, told the Tallahassee Democrat this week.
Since 2005, the National Mango Board has used education, advertising and research to bring the juicy benefits of the “world’s most life-giving superfruit” into people’s lives.
First harvested in India over 5,000 years ago and often considered a symbol of love, the fruit contains over 20 different vitamins and minerals. According to its website, the organization hopes to make the “exotic fruit a staple in the kitchen.”.“
In South Florida, the fruit that grows in many backyards is better known, but in North Florida, knowledge may be less: Mangos require the warmer temperatures of a longer growing season.
But this year, the board has upped the ante by inviting mango lovers and anyone who wants to indulge their taste buds to join in on the weekend’s festivities. Perks include free Florida State and mango-themed giveaways, a chance to win prizes and snap some photos at the selfie station.
The main attraction is a mango fixings bar, where guests can get a cup of fresh chopped mangoes and dress them up with a variety of toppings, including Tajín, a Mexican spice blend of lime, salt and chili, shredded coconut and chocolate syrup.
With the goal of “spreading the joy of fresh mango,” the mobile mango truck has already made its debut in Texas through taste testing, demonstrations and education. The tour includes eight cities, with Tallahassee planned as the third stop. Pensacola is the only other city in Florida that will have the “mango experience.”
Spellman says the first two stops, at a Kroger in a Texas neighborhood and at a minor league baseball game, went well; nearly 700 mangoes were consumed at the sporting event alone.
Spellman, who also happens to be a graduate of Florida State University, says the initiative was born when members of the National Mango Board asked, “How do we connect everything we do?”
Given our relationships with retailers and our collegiate sports partnerships with the Florida State Seminoles and the Ole Miss Rebels at the University of Mississippi, the start of a new football season seemed like the perfect way to kick things off.
The National Mango Board visited the Seminoles with a booth at several home games last football season and found that a quarter of the 2,000 people in attendance were trying a mango for the first time.
Spellman jokes that he is happy to “take people where they want to go while spreading the message of the mango.”
When you go
- Sunday: 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.; Publix Super Market at Village Square, 6753 Thomasville Road
- Monday: 3:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.; Doak Campbell Stadium, 403 Stadium Drive, before the 7:30 p.m. kickoff against Boston College.
Kyla A. Sanford covers dining and entertainment for the Tallahassee Democrat. She can be reached at [email protected]. New restaurant openings, specials or upcoming events? Let me know!
