Thrive Life is a company that specializes in meal prep and food storage. Fresh, dried foods delivered to your door. What about the fruits, though? Let’s find out about Thrive Life Dried Mango.
The online market has made a drastic change recently, and now we barely have to leave our homes. Goods and services can be purchased online without ever interacting with another human. We can have everything shipped right to our door without having to start the car or step outside.
Online Market
It is no wonder that food delivery became the next big thing. Now supermarkets all over the country will take an online order and ship everything right to us. How do we know if we are getting the best foods though? Are we willing to trust a minimum wage worker in a soiled apron to pick a ripe avocado or thump a melon before tossing it in our basket?
Thrive Life Company
With companies like Thrive Life, you don’t have to worry about that aspect any longer. Thrive Life packages farm fresh foods with a freeze-drying method, that ensures freshness, flavor, and extremely long shelf life.
You can order a meal and get it sent to your door, or order a box and start stocking your emergency pantry. Every food you can think of is covered. All the food groups are accounted for, even dairy. While dried fruits aren’t new to us, Thrive Life fruits are something a little different.
The dried mango, for example, can be reconstituted for use in meal prep, added to salads, or even just eaten right from the can. Light, healthy, and delivered to your door.
In this review, I will examine the Thrive Life Dried Mango to get a better understanding of the process, the food itself. and Thrive Life as a company.
What Are Thrive Life Dried Mangoes and How Do They Work?
Thrive Life Dried Mangoes are just that: mangoes that have been freeze-dried. The mangoes are harvested from a grove, shipped to a Thrive Life warehouse where they are sorted, washed, inspected. and peeled.
The mangoes then get chopped into cubes, freeze-dried, and canned.
The process is a simple one: get the fruit while it is ripe, fresh, and just after harvest. Then, process it to preserve the flavor and nutrients. After that, the rest is up to you.
When you place your order, you will receive your can, and from there, you can enjoy your dried mango. It really is that simple.
What Makes Thrive Life Dried Mangoes, Unique?
Freeze drying fruits isn’t a new concept. In fact, it has been around for decades. The method and packaging that Thrive Life does, however, makes these mangoes a bit more special (as well as the rest of their foods)
For starters, the amount you get is unbelievable. You have two options: the Pantry Can or the Family Size. The Pantry Can will have 7 servings, while the Family can will have 23 servings.
A serving is half a cup. Once reconstituted, that equals just about half a mango. So, applying the math, with a pantry can, you will receive approximately 4 full mangoes. The Family can contains almost 13 mangoes.
Dried Mango Convenience
Not only that, but you don’t have to deal with the peel, the pit, the stems or the mess. You don’t even need to add water if you don’t want too. The mango is fresh, just freeze dried. You can eat the cubes right out of the can.
The most significant difference is the shelf life. Most dried fruit will last in the pantry for a couple of years. The pouches will survive even less. Thrive Life canned, freeze-dried mangoes, though, have a shelf life of 25 years.
What’s more, is when you look at the ingredients list, you will notice something else: one ingredient. Unlike pouches you will find in the store, there aren’t any preservative ingredients, stabilizers or color, and flavor enhancers; just mangoes.
Dried Mango
The nutrition label reads just as if you were to consume half of a fresh mango. Nothing is added, nothing is subtracted (except water), and the nutrition and colors remain.
Because air is the enemy, once you open the can, the shelf life will dwindle to about a week or two. You shouldn’t store the unused portions in the can. Instead, you should transfer them to a resealable container pushing out as much air as possible when sealing.
This will keep them fresh longer. Air contains moisture, and over time the dried fruit will reconstitute, grow mold, and act like any other fruit you leave out, or don’t consume promptly.
Pricing
Prices vary from product to product, and will be dependent on quantity and size of your purchase. As stated earlier, you have two size options to choose from: Pantry Can and Family Can.
The Pantry Can weighs 0.25 pounds and has 7 half-mango servings. You have two purchase options for this size; either a Single can or the Pantry Can 10-pack.
The single can option costs $16.19 each, and the case of 10 will cost you $157.09.
The Family Can weighs 0.75 pounds and holds 23 half-mango servings, or about 13 full mangoes. You also have two purchase options: Single can or the Family Can 6-pack.
The Single can will cost $37.79, while the 6-pack will run you $214.39.
Freeze Dried Food vs Supermarket Canned Mango
While you may be raising an eyebrow at the prices, you need to remember what you are getting. First, the food is freeze dried, so there is more per can, than if you were to buy canned mango in the supermarket.
Second, the mango you get from Thrive Life is just as fresh as a whole mango you get in the store, or at a farmers market. You are also paying for the processing.
You don’t have to take time to peel, pit, and stem the mango, nor do you need to cut, chop, or dice it. Everything has already been done for you.
Not only that, but the dried mango is readily available year round, unlike your local grocer who only has it during the season.
On average, according to the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, dried mango costs $8.50 per pound, and fresh mango costs $1.38 per pound.
Dried Mango Price Range
Couple that with a 29 percent inedible amount included in the weight (pits, skin, pulp, etc.), and you are paying for things you are going to throw away.
The average medium sized whole mango (including pit and skin) weighs half a pound. This means for a fresh, medium-sized mango at your local grocery store, you will pay $59.50 to get the same amount of fresh mango as you get in the Family Can, which costs you $37.79.
Not only that, but your purchase from Thrive Life can stay on your shelf for up to 25 years. I highly doubt your store-bought mango will last that long, even if you wrap it and freeze it.
You can also get coupons and deals through Thrive Life to save even more.
Coupons and Deals
Thrive Life uses its members as their advertisement. You won’t see or hear television and radio commercials too often about Thrive Life. That is because the company likes to put their marketing money into their customers.
You can become a member by placing a standing monthly order. You can also become a representative. As a member and a representative, you will receive promotions and coupons (called Qpons) from Thrive Life, that you can apply towards your purchases.
Thrive Life Host
If you are interested, you can be a Thrive Life Host. Hosts throw parties that invite friends and family to learn about Thrive Life, and taste their products. If you host a party, you get a percentage of the sales from that party.
You also can recruit people to work for you, by hosting parties (which can also be done online, such as through a Facebook Group). You will not only get a percentage of your party, sales, and referrals, but also a percentage of their parties, sales, and referrals.
If you use the Qpons correctly and host a party or two, you may find that you get an entire month worth of food orders (or more), for free. No grocery store is going to do that for you.
You can find introductory coupon codes for free shipping, discounts on purchases, and other promotions online, or through the Thrive Life Facebook page.
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How Do the Mangoes Compare?
Unfortunately, they haven’t invented a scratch and sniff, or scratch and taste web browser yet. So you are going to have to take my word for it. I used to live in the tropics on a small island, where I ate mango every day right off the trees.
I know how juicy, sweet, and robust the mango flavors can, and should be. That being said, the dried mangoes from Thrive Life are almost as good. When eating right out of the can, like dried fruit, the flavors are powerful and perfect.
Once you reconstitute the dried fruit in water, the plump fruit comes to life. The juiciness returns, although it won’t run down your chin as it does in the wild. Unless, of course, you are sloppy while eating little mango cubes.
While fresh from the tree is never going to be beat, the dried mangoes in the Thrive Life do compare, and even exceed those you would buy in a store, assuming you don’t live near a mango grove.
When comparing it to a pouch of sugar added dried fruit from the grocer’s shelves, there is no comparison. Most of those don’t even taste like mango.
Public Perception
The dried mangoes are not a top seller on Thrive Life. This doesn’t mean they aren’t popular, but mango itself isn’t a top seller for most non-tropical markets, either. The mangoes are regularly ordered, just not as frequently as some other, more popular fruits like apples and bananas.
However, those that do make the purchase return to buy more. That alone should tell you enough. If you like mango (and why shouldn’t you?) the tropical fruit is worthy of making it into your delivery box.
PROS
- Top seller for most non-tropical markets
- It tastes great, and you can use it for chutney, in mango salsa, as a side for a fish dinner, or just as a snack while watching television.
- You can use dried mango to cook.
CONS
- No Negative Comments Listed
What We Think
The dried mango is delicious. That is what it comes down to. It tastes great, and you can use it for chutney, in mango salsa, as a side for a fish dinner, or just as a snack while watching television.
If you don’t know what to do with your mango, there are plenty of recipes available on the Thrive Life website, or you can search your favorite Betty Crocker book and find one there as well.
You aren’t going to find a fresher, tastier mango, dried or otherwise, unless you live under a mango tree. If you enjoy a mango or using it to cook, then Thrive Life Dried Mangoes are for you. It’s as simple as that.
In Conclusion
Thrive Life makes dried foods for consumers to use daily or store for long periods of time. It isn’t uncommon for Thrive Life customers to stock an emergency pantry using their products. With the dried mango and many other foods, the shelf life of an unopened can is 25 years.
Using only single ingredients, Thrive Life produces foods that hold their nutrients, flavor, and color for years to come, not just days or weeks like store-bought groceries.
The dried mangoes can be enjoyed right from the can, or from reconstitution. Just adding water for five minutes will give you a fresh, juicy mango like you just picked it from the tree.
By becoming a QClub member, you will also receive Qpons and other promotional offers that will offset the cost. You can even host a Thrive Life party, and save even more money. If you love mangoes, you should try Thrive Life Dried Mangoes. You won’t regret it.
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Becky is a wildlife enthusiast and pet and livestock care expert with a diploma in canine nutrition. With over a decade of experience in animal welfare, Becky lends her expertise to Simple Family Preparedness through insightful info about pets, livestock, bee keeping, and the practicalities of homesteading.