Top End’s beloved mango season has begun with local farm Jenkos Mangoes expecting to pack 50,000 trays

One of the most delicious times of year is upon us with the Australian mango season officially underway.

WHILE the Build-Up heralds hot and sticky weather it also brings with it the sweet delicious mangoes.

Trays and trays of the Top Ends favourite fruit are being picked and packed ready to be devoured by hungry mouths.

Australian Mangoes have officially launched the season with distribution of mangoes set to increase to 200,000 trays in mid-late September

Jenkos Mangoes general manager Jessie Jenkins said picking of the crop had begun this week.

They expect to pack 50,000 trays, most of which will be sent interstate.

Jenkos Mangoes is also a commercial packing facility for local suppliers and in total they expect to send 150,000 trays to market.

“We look forward to it every year. 95 per cent of our mangoes go interstate rather than overseas so it’s nice to know that our mangoes are being consumed by Aussies,” she said.

“Giving everyone a taste of summer.”

The variety Calypso is shaping up to have a good season while crowd favourite Kensington Pride has been affected by the weather. She said the numbers were slightly down on what was originally forecasted with 1.5m trays now expected out of the NT.

Sam and Ruby Jenkin eating the first mangoes of the season at their family farm in Noonamah.

Australian Mangoes chief executive Brett Kelly said the vast majority of mangoes were being distributed from the Northern Territory, but from November, Queensland will be the major producer of the tropical fruit with further growers in WA to support the summer fruit momentum.

“After a challenging year for all, Australians can look forward to tasting the sunshine with the sweet tropical flavour of Australian Mangoes,” Mr Kelly said.

“Our mangoes are 100 per cent Australian produced by our growers who work hard to deliver high quality, delicious produce that Aussies enjoy year after year.”

The season is kicking off with the beloved Kensington Pride variety, hitting shelves from now until early next year. From October, Aussies will be able to get their hands on Calypso and R2E2 varieties, closely followed by Honey Gold mangoes which will be up for grabs from November. These four main mango varieties will be in season until the end of January, at which time the later Keitt, Palmer and Kent varieties will arrive to tempt your tastebuds through to the end of the season.

The 2021 Brisbane Produce Market Mango Auction will also kicked-off online Thursday, to raise much- needed funds for the children’s cancer charity Redkite and help celebrate the start of the official mango season. The 2019 winning bid of $25,000 for the first tray of mangoes marked a great start to the season, and this year the Brisbane markets are determined to reach a milestone of $1m raised for Queensland charities since 2002.