Kensington Pride and R2E2 mangoes grown in Manbullo’s North Queensland orchards set sail for Asia last month, in a first ever direct shipment of fresh mangoes from the port of Townsville.
The shipment was coordinated by Manbullo and Northern Stevedoring Services (NSS) who utilised a Mariana Express Lines’ Kora Nasrat container vessel.
“We ship export perishable goods from all over the country and to bring our expertise to the region to work with Manbulloo and key stakeholders is what we are about,” said Pacific Asia Express (the Australian agency for Mariana Express Lines) senior commercial director, Greg Mawer.
The fruit was sent in a refrigerated container with the intention of arriving ahead of the western festive season.
Manbullo’s quality and export manager, Scott Ledger said that the export shipment was a great milestone for the business.
“Controlled atmosphere sea freight is cheaper than sending mangoes via air to overseas markets, which will help Manbulloo to capture the opportunity to expand exports to Asia,” he said.
The mangoes underwent a vapour heat treatment in the Manbullo facility for control of fruit fly – a requirement when exporting to China, South Korea and Japan.
“Other strict quarantine requirements must be followed including registration of the mango orchards for export, completion of a phytosanitary inspection of the packed mangoes and supervision of the loading of the container by a government Authorised Officer,” explained Ledger.
Mawer said that it was an exciting time for Townsville and the future potential of seafreight mango exports.
