Mango Season
Mangoes in season in Australia. Month-by-month availability by state, peak supply windows, growing regions and varieties.
Are Mangoes in Season in May?
Mango season in Australia runs from July to March, with peak supply concentrated to October, November and December. The Northern Territory season produces fruit between July and December, and the Queensland season carries through from October until March. A different variety is in peak supply almost every month. Kensington Pride leads, then Calypso, R2E2, Honey Gold and finally Keitt as the season tails off.
When is Mango Season in Australia?
Mangoes are in season across spring and summer in Australia, with peak supply from October to December.
Most commercial mango orchards are started by grafting, although Kensington Pride and R2E2 can be grown from seed. Grafted trees produce fruit within three years of planting and peak after six to eight years. Mango trees are remarkably long-lived. Some trees in India are reportedly still producing after 300 years, and 100-year-old trees exist in Australia, though commercial orchards are typically replanted after around 40 years as yields drop off.
Mango Availability by Season
Mango Varieties
Kensington Pride starts the season and still makes up 43% of the crop. Calypso and R2E2 carry the mid-season. Honey Gold ripens later into summer. Keitt is the last variety standing, keeping Australian mangoes on the shelf into March before imports take over.
Mango Varieties Through the Year
Kensington Pride Mango Season
The peak season for Kensington Pride mangoes is between September and February. They're an early-season variety and the most common type of mango in Australia. In the 1990s as much as 80% of Australian mangoes were Kensington Pride. Today they make up about 43% of annual production. You can tell a Kensington Pride is in season when they start to develop their unique sweet aroma.
Calypso Mango Season
The peak season for Calypso mangoes is from September to March. Up to a quarter of Australian mango production is Calypso. Calypso is a trademark name owned by Perfection Fresh. The variety is also known as B74. It was developed in Queensland from Kensington Pride and a Florida variety. Calypsos are ripe when there's no green tinge left in the skin.
R2E2 Mango Season
The peak season for R2E2 mangoes is between October and February. It's a mid-to-late season variety that matures 2 to 4 weeks after Kensington Pride, and one of the few mangoes that grow well commercially from seed. Around 19% of mangoes in Australia each year are R2E2. The name comes from its row location in the Queensland orchard where it was first developed.
Honey Gold Mango Season
The peak season for Honey Gold mangoes is between November and March. They were originally developed in Queensland from Kensington Pride and are a trademark of Pinata Farms. Around 8% of fruit each season is Honey Gold. They're ripe when the entire skin has turned golden, visually pretty similar to an apricot.
Keitt Mango Season
The peak season for Keitt mangoes in Australia is January to March. Less than 5% of mangoes are Keitt. They were originally developed in Florida but have found a niche here as a late-season variety that extends our mango season into early autumn. Keitt is the variety most likely to be the last Australian mango on the shelf before imports take over.
Where do Mangoes Come From in Australia?
Mangoes originated in India and South East Asia. In Australia almost all production comes from the tropical north. Roughly half is from the Northern Territory and half from Queensland, with less than 5% produced anywhere else.
Mango Production in Australia
Mango is one of the few fresh fruits where Australia is essentially self-sufficient. Only about 1% of annual consumption is imported. More than 95% of the mangoes grown here are varieties developed in Australia, almost all of them in Queensland. The Northern Territory is researching its own varieties, but the most popular NT-season types remain Calypso, R2E2 and Kensington Pride, while Queensland's season is built around Kensington Pride, R2E2 and Keitt.