Rain driving mango price up

Oboy’s Fresh Express shop owner Darryl Schulte believes a rise in mango prices due to rainy conditions will not only hurt consumers’ hip pockets but retailers’ profit margins as well.

Max Fleet

MANGO lovers are set for a shock, with the price of the summer favourite predicted to reach upwards of $50 a carton.

Mango grower and Gin Gin Fruit and Vegetable Growers chairman Col Jeacocke says consumers can expect to pay top dollar for their mangos after a sodden growing season.

“Crops all over the state are down on average,” he said.

“It really has been one of those years – the amount of rain farmers have been battling is almost unheard of.”

Mr Jeacocke said the odds were now squarely stacked against local growers as ongoing rain threatened to destroy what was left of this season's crop.

Growers battled with unseasonably wet weather in September, which stripped pollen from flowers and dwarfed crop size.

Now the battle is on to protect what remains on their trees from disease as the fungus anthracnose runs rife in the wet, humid conditions.

Mr Jeacocke believes the region's total crop could be down as much as 70% on average.

“Farmers out here usually love the rain, but it's been a case of too much of a good thing this year,” he said.

“Everyone out there is suffering some sort of heartache and in some cases crops have been totally destroyed.”

Mr Jeacocke has predicted a $300,000 loss in revenue from his 80-acre mango orchard. He said the collective loss in the Bundaberg region would come as a substantial blow for the region.

“We're talking about millions and millions of dollars that won't be coming into the Bundaberg community,” he said.

Electra mango and lychee grower Derek Foley has tightened his belt in anticipation of his worst ever mango crop.

He will struggle to produce 10% of his usual crop and has also braced for a $300,000 loss.

Mr Foley said while a good crop of lychees would help him balance the books, many growers were not so lucky.

“There are producers who are hurting,” he said.