Indian businesses are working hard to export mangoes to Australia over the coming season. It will be the first time that Australia imports this fruit from India which means that mangoes will be available in Australia outside the normal Australian mango season for the first time.
SBS Punjabi spoke to Robert Grey, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Mango Industry Association regarding this development.
Indian labourers sort mangoes at the Gaddiannaram Fruit Market on the outskirts of Hyderabad Source: Getty Images
“Australian consumers are used to buying mangoes during spring and summer; it would be quite a different experience for them buying mangoes over the winter. So time will tell how well the Australian consumers go for the Indian product.”
With the Indian mango season running from March to July, the opposite to the Australian mango season, Grey says he does not see any threat or challenge for the Australian mango market with this new trade opportunity in place.
According to him, it will ultimately be the Australian consumers - and the retailers who supply that produce to the Australian consumers - who will decide whether the Indian mangoes will have a successful market in Australia or not.
“That will depend on how effectively their product meets the Australian consumers requirement," says Grey.
“The Australian consumers are used to buying mangoes during spring and summer; it would be quite a different experience for them buying mangoes over the winter and certainly buying varieties that Indian mango growers grow. So time will tell how well the Australian consumers go for the Indian product. ”
Listen to Robert Grey's full interview (in English) with SBS Punjabi here:
India is a big mango-growing country that has been already been exporting approximately 200-300 tonnes of mangoes per year to the United States. It is believed that a similar volume of fruit will be exported to Australia if the trade goes ahead.
The origins of the fruit lie in the subcontinent, where it was reportedly cultivated as far back as 2000 BC. Now, India is the largest mango-producing country in the world with production having reached 18 million (metric) tons in 2013 amounting to approximately 50% of the global mango supply.
In spite of this, the EU imposed a seven-month ban on imports of Indian mangoes to the European continent in 2014, citing concerns regarding pests. A later audit of the phytosanitary certification system saw the ban lifted in January 2015.
According to Robert Grey, the requirements of importing fruit to Australia are very strict but they are the same as the ones faced by Australian farmers when they export produce overseas.
“They require the entire product to be treated using a radiation," Grey tells SBS Punjabi. "They also require growers and exporters to register their facilities."
"So the protocol is enforced in a way that only product that is safe and product that is free from pests and diseases is allowed to come into the country.”
He said that all this process is in place and available for people to start utilising immediately.
Source: Pixabay
So what about the price?
Mango is already one of the more expensive fruits available in Australia, retailing at around $2.50 to $3 each. Robert Grey agrees that importing the fruit from overseas could potentially push the price further up.
Citing an example, he said that the fruit that retails at around $2.50 a piece locally is usually sold at around $5 or $6 a piece overseas and that is very likely to happen with the produce imported into Australia as well.
“It really depends on the cost of production and the cost of treatment and the cost of shipment," Grey explains. "So the cost of exporting and the cost of compliance to these sorts of protocols certainly lifts the final cost for the consumer.”
As far as the Australian Mango Association is concerned, Robert Grey said that they are very positive about opening up international trade for mangoes.
“Certainly we can’t expect to have new markets opened up for Australian mangoes if we are not prepared to accept similar protocols and processes into our market.”
