The Australian 5th Jan 06

Japanese tourists buy $22.50 mangoes
Ian GerardJanuary 05, 2006

DEPARTING Japanese tourists are paying $22.50 for a mango at Cairns international airport but producers claim the price is cheap for export-quality fruit.
While mangoes sell for as little as $1 a kilo at the local markets in Cairns, they can cost up to $80 each at department stores in Tokyo, where Japanese consumers
are developing a taste for the exotic fruit. Japanese-owned but Queensland-based
company Diamond Star Australia is selling boxes of three export-quality mangoes
for $67.50 at the busy north Queensland airport, which has regular direct flights to Tokyo and Osaka.
Vapour heat-treated and inspected by Australian and Japanese quarantine authorities, the mangoes are sold in packs of three or six, depending on their size.
Diamond Star Australia, an operation based at Mutchilba, west of Cairns, owns one of
two mango export treatment plants in the country, allowing them to meet the strict criteria applied by Japanese authorities.
The mangoes are grown on the eastern side of trees to give them a healthy reddish hue.
Yesterday, 40 boxes of mangoes were snapped up before lunch.
"They are selling that well that we have to refuse to sell them so we have some left for travel companies which have pre-booked them," Produce of Australia manager James
Tsang said.
"The feedback we get is great.
They are all excited about it, especially this time of year."
Each box of mangoes is certified by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service and representatives of the Japanese Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Cairns AQIS export supervisor Lionel Smith said Diamond Star Australia paid the Federal government body about $2,000 a week to make daily inspections of the plant to
make sure the mangoes met the requirements of the Japanese.
"We supervise the treatments and ensure the security of the product once it is treated is maintained," he said.
"The price they buy them for here is quite viable compared to what they pay for it in
Japan."
Australian Mango Industry Association chairman Joe Moro said that while the mangoes were expensive, much of the cost was related to their treatment for export.
Mr Moro said growers of the Japanese-bound mangoes received a premium on top of
the domestic rate for their fruit, did not have to pay packing costs and were "very happy" with the arrangement.
"The more mango we export, the better," he said.
"My understanding is that growers are getting an extremely good price.
Mangoes are a significant investment for growers, but a lot of the cost would be related to the treatment."
Australia has exported mangoes to Japan since 1994 under a bilateral agreement
between the MAFF and the federal Department of Agriculture. Mr Moro said mangoes were an expensive fruit to export to Japan because it was a small market.
"They move small volumes and therefore have high prices," he said.