Planting
Our Regenerative Organic Certified® mango is grown in the nutrient-dense soil around the Laguna de Apoyo crater lake in Nicaragua. Our farmers use 100% regenerative organic farming techniques, drawing down atmospheric carbon into the soil to cool the earth. Additionally, legumes are planted around the trees to protect them and infuse nitrogen into the soil during their life cycle. As part of an agroforestry system, many other species of fruit trees and native hardwoods are planted to increase biodiversity and diversify our growers’ incomes.
We work directly with over 250 smallholder Nicaraguan farmers to plant, grow, and cultivate our Regenerative Organic Certified® mango. Our regular community workshops and one-on-one technical assistance programs help farmers manage their watershed and soil heath, improve yields and biodiversity, and comply with certifications.
We pay above market value and offer annual contracts and build collection centers in remote areas so our farmers do not have the burden of needing to sell their fruit elsewhere. The results of these actions are increased income and improved livelihoods for smallholder farming families. Your support provides a market-based solution to poverty alleviation.
Harvesting
Our Regenerative Organic Certified® mangos are harvested once a year between April and July, after four months of ripening on the tree. Mango trees take four to six years to bear fruit and can grow to be up to 90 feet tall, with canopies as wide as 80 feet and leaves as big as 12-16 inches long.
Mango harvesting requires much-needed care. The average size of our smallholder farms are 1.4 acres. Our Regenerative Organic Certified™ farming partners use the regenerative organic farming technique called agroforestry. Agroforestry is an efficient, integrated and sustainable land-use system that optimizes the benefits of biophysical interactions created when trees and/or shrubs are deliberately combined with crops and livestock. There are many ecological and financial benefits for the farmer and the environment in using this system, such as: alleviates rural poverty by allowing farmers to include additional crops to improve their livelihoods; provides a natural lifeline for livestock with shelter, shade and food; mitigates the climate crisis by sequestering carbon back into the soil; protects the soil; and preserves local flora.
Collection Centers
The growers and our Sol Organica staff carefully inspect and weigh each farmer's harvest, review their account statements, and record their progress towards bonuses or prizes from quality competitions between collection centers. Receipts are printed out for each grower at the time of collection. Invoices are also printed and sent along with the raw material to Sol Organica's loading dock.
Sol Organica’s collection team gathers the raw material from the collection centers located in Catarina, Masaya and San Marcos. The team makes a visual inspection and selects the fruit according to our raw material specifications.
Fresh, hand-selected mangos are then loaded onto Sol Organica’s truck and transported to the processing facility in San Marcos, Carazo, Nicaragua.
Receiving and Processing
The warehouse staff receives all the documentation indicating the following: quantities of raw material, certification or category (organic, regenerative organic, etc.), and name of farm and farmer. Then, our staff responsible for quality control reviews samples to ensure they comply with our premium standards.
The Regenerative Organic Certified® mangos are washed, peeled and processed for Sol Simple Solar Dried Mango, bulk dried mango, or mango puree. They are then packaged and prepared for export. Nothing is added (100% natural), and all products are sugar, preservative, sulfate, and pesticide-free. The product is prepared under strict sanitary conditions in accordance with Good Manufacturing Practices.
Transportation & Storage
The finished product is packed and then shipped in full load containers to the Port of Everglades in Florida, U.S.
For our European customers, our finished products are shipped to Port of Rotterdam in The Netherlands.
Our packaged mango products are stored at our warehouses in the U.S. and Europe, and then shipped to you and other customers to savor!