CANBERRA: Australia exported a record number of mangoes last season, with over one million trays sent to markets around the world. But it is just the beginning according to the industry, which is planning to double exports from 10 per cent of the national crop to 20 per cent over the next five years.
Australian Mango Industry Association (AMIA) chair Gavin Scurr said it was an exciting time for the industry.”All of the consumers we ask around the world, love Australian mangoes, so we’ve got massive demand,” he said.”Our challenge is meeting the quarantine protocols and doing it efficiently so they can afford them.”But having one in five Australian mangoes being exported in five years time, yeah we think it’s achievable.”
The mango industry’s aim to double exports has received a huge boost with the opening of the United States market earlier this year. Gavin Scurr said the success of the first consignment of mangoes to the US and the positive feedback from American consumers, was hopefully the start of something big.
“There are around 320 million people in the United States, so even if only 10 per cent of them can afford and want to buy a mango, it’s still 30 million people, which is much more than the Australian population and potential market,” he said.
“We need to get a few more seasons under our belt to see what the real potential [of the US market] is. “But I’ll go out on a limb and say 1 million trays a year is certainly do-able in the next five years.” Mr Scurr admitted that if markets like the US and Korea took off then “we’re going to need more mangoes”.
The Northern Territory Government is currently testing soils and water at potential “greenfield sites” for future mango plantations or other horticultural projects.
Speaking at the 10th Australian Mango Conference in Darwin, the NT’s Primary Industry Minister Willem Westra van Holthe said there was a “small parcel of land” south of Mataranka which was looking promising.
“It’s an area looking really promising for mangoes and now we need private enterprise to come in and make it happen,” he said.”We’re still working through the process and there’ll be an open and transparent process to release that land.
“The Mataranka portion is just a small taste of what’s to come for the mango industry in the Northern Territory because there’s huge potential.”Mr Westra van Holthe said his department was investigating if the mango season could be extended in the NT, so it commences in September and finishes in late February.
