Summer sweetness: oversupply of mangoes sees prices plummet across Australia

Mango growers are urging customers to celebrate the summer season by buying more of the fruit, as a glut in supply has sent prices plummeting.

Brett Kelly, chief executive at Australian Mangoes, said the low price was being driven by an overlap in supply from different regions. Northern Territory mangoes normally get picked first in late November, followed by Queensland in the middle of December, then down to New South Wales and over to Western Australia.

Although it may appear like a bumper harvest, Pia Piggott, a horticulture associate analyst at RaboResearch, said it is only up 14% on the previous year.

Mangoes have actually seen a decline in the level of production since 2018, she said.

Piggott said consumers would likely see low prices on mangoes until the first week of January when supply starts to drop off.

Woolworths would not say how much sales were up from the previous year, but a spokesperson said customers were purchasing mangoes in huge numbers.