Despite challenging pre-season weather high packout and quality defines this Honey Gold season
Honey Gold mango producer Piñata Farms has ended the 2024/25 season with a high packout rate and excellent quality fruit, according to sales and marketing manager Rebecca Scurr.
Scurr said the 14-week season, which wrapped up in early February, resulted in similar volumes to the previous two seasons and the highest customer acceptance rate the variety had ever achieved.
“We’ve had three very different seasons due to very different weather conditions in the growing regions,” she said. “Yet all have resulted in a good season [which] is evidence of the variety’s growing consistency.”
According to Scurr the 2024/25 season received excellent feedback from retailers, the public and industry.
“Strong support from key customers meant we were able to plan the programme and deliver every day for 14 weeks,” she said.
This was in spite of challenges for the marketer’s three Northern Territoy farms and early predictions for a light season.
“The 2024/25 season was extremely challenging at our own farms in the Northern Territory due to pre-season conditions which affected flowering,” Scurr said. “However, the four main Queensland growing regions in Bowen, Mareeba, Rockhampton and Bundaberg, produced a consistently great crop and production flowed nicely from one region to the next.”
Mareeba did struggle with heavy rain in the lead up to the season, but Scurr said excellent grower practices throughout the regions, resulted in quality fruit.
“It was a win-win for customers who had access to great quality fruit for a good price, retailers who were able to offer a consistent product with a beautiful shelf presence and third-party growers who received a consistent, fair price,” Scurr added.
Piñata Farms holds an approximate 10 per cent share of the Australian mango market. It has a network of some 25 third-party growers in the Northern Territory, Queensland, and Western Australia, producing mangoes throughout summer. Many have been growing Honey Golds since the variety was first commercialised in 2002.
Piñata Farms will host the annual Honey Gold Mango Congress in Melbourne on 18-20. The congress will see third-party growers gather to share insights and outcomes of the season while Piñata Farms will announce the annual Honey Gold Grower of the Year award.