First flights take NT mangoes to key overseas markets

The first freight flights carrying Territory mangoes overseas take off today

The first freight flights carrying Territory mangoes to the US under the Federal Government’s International Freight Assistance Mechanism (IFAM) take off today.

Premium Australian mangoes will be on flights from Brisbane, Cairns and Sydney to customers across the US as well as South Korea, China and the Middle East.

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The largest producer of KP and R2E2 mangoes across Northern Australia, Manbulloo Mangoes, has been transporting consignments of its premium mangoes to Brisbane and Sydney bound for international markets with the help of IFAM.

Manbulloo Ltd, Managing director Marie Piccone, said that without the support of IFAM, the NT mango industry would not have been able to maintain supply to export markets.

The company’s oldest and largest farm, Manbulloo Katherine, is home to 65,000 mango trees. The farm occupies 4 square kilometres and is located 22 kilometres outside of Katherine

“Manbulloo will be using IFAM flights to send mangoes to South Korea, China, Canada and USA,” Ms Piccone said. “Without IFAM, it would be prohibitively expensive to export this mango season.

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“We believe IFAM is a great initiative and is vital to the mango industry maintaining market share, international competitiveness and relationships with consumers and customers globally.”

Federal Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said it was vital that mango growers across Northern Australia can pick mangoes with confidence knowing their produce can get onto planes and over to key export markets.

“We want to make sure they can continue to get their high-quality product over to their overseas customers,” Minister Birmingham said.