By JONATHON HOWARD
MANGO mania is sweeping across Noosa this month with prices tipped to fall in time for Christmas.
No Queensland Christmas is complete without the iconic stone fruit and families are expected to spend a record amount on mangoes this year.
Cooroy Harvest Fresh owner Joe Bartolo said his mangoes were already hot property.
“We’re selling three mangoes for $5 and customers can expect to see those prices fall closer to Christmas,” he said.
Roadside mango seller Gill Robinson, who has setup a temporary mango stand at Pacific Petroleum on Hilton Terrace, said as with previous years the Kensington Pride was a popular pick.
“Kensington Pride makes up about 80 per cent of all the sales – it’s the preferred mango for Christmas – but we also have Bowen mangoes and R2E2 which can offer competitive prices,” she said.
Ms Robinson said she also expected prices to fall closer to Christmas.
An estimated 3.3 million trays will be produced in Queensland this year.
Boyd Arthur, from the Australian Mango Industry Association, said that while some fruit had been harvested, most orchards will start picking towards the end of the month.
Last year, Queensland growers produced almost 70 per cent of the national crop, following a poor season in the Northern Territory.
While yields have dropped slightly this year, Mr Arthur says it’s still shaping up to be a reasonable harvest.
“It’s not a bumper crop, but we’re expecting tray levels to be pretty close to last year,” he said.
“We’re looking at 1.5 million trays from the Burdekin/Bowen region, and roughly 2.8 million trays for Mareeba/Dimbulah and Mutchilba.
“We’ve had unusually cold temperatures through the fruit set stage, so the pollination on all varieties is a little bit affected.”
Mr Arthur says it appears fruit quality should be high in most regions.
“Because it’s been dry, we’re seeing little problems with things like scale,” he said.
