Citrus Australia is urging the country’s growers, packers and exporters to be patient when it comes to structuring their sales programmes, warning that delivering immature fruit to market could have a detrimental effect on the upcoming season.
Early testing conducted by the peak industry body on early-season M7 and navel oranges, along with imperial mandarins, has shown fruit maturity is still marginal and does not reliably exceed the minimum Australian Citrus Standards. Nathan Hancock, Citrus Australia’s manager of market information and quality, said the standards represent the minimum flavour profile at which consumers will re-purchase fruit.
“Consumers in our Australian studies clearly said they would only repeat purchase and buy more fruit per visit when the fruit met their preferred taste profile,” Hancock said. “Launching the Australian citrus season is a critically important time for the whole industry. If we get it right, the consumer will purchase more. But if we get it wrong, the consumer’s experience is soured and could take up to eight weeks to repurchase, if at all.”
