The much-loved summer staple Bowen mangoes won’t be overflowing on supermarket shelves this summer due to a warmer-than-average winter.
So, without as many mangoes on the market, what else will be in store?
Plenty of pineapple
Last season the pineapple industry struggled through a mass natural flowering event that caused a major glut of the tropical fruit.
But a mild, dry winter this year has been good news for growers.
“The eating quality improves when you have nice, sunny, warm days,” Central Queensland grower Barry Brooks said.
“We seem to be getting plenty of them at the moment. That also helps keep the sugar levels up.”
Mr Brooks said he was expecting a good sized crop that should ripen gradually rather than all at once, as it did last year.
“We’ve been able to regulate the flow of fruit from flowering through to harvest,” he said.
Half of Mr Brooks’s pineapples will end up on supermarket shelves, with the other half being sent to the Golden Circle cannery for processing.
“Pineapples are a bit smaller at the moment which is quite good, because they [Golden Circle] don’t like the big fruit,” he said.
“Anything too big is too big for the tin.”
Even if the size of the fruit was smaller, it wouldn’t reduce the quality, Mr Brooks said.
“If you want a nice, sweet pineapple, start eating now.”
Great news for lychee lovers
The lychee industry enjoyed a record-breaking crop last year, with the popular Asian fruit flying off trees and supermarket shelves.
While it is still early days, growers won’t be picking the abundance of last season.
But they are predicting about 80 per cent of an average year.
Australian Lychee Growers Association president Derek Foley said while there would be slightly fewer lychees available to buy, they would still be delicious on a pavlova.
“They’re going to be about, and it’s an exciting time when the exotic subtropicals get on the market, and we know there’s an increasing demand for these great pieces of fruit,” Mr Foley said.
About 22 per cent of the country’s lychees ended up overseas and this year would be no different, he said.
On Mr Foley’s farm in Bundaberg, most of the fruit will be available for the domestic market, so Australians will still find plenty of home-grown lychees in supermarkets.
“We encourage everybody to support the lychee industry, support a farmer, and enjoy it on your dessert or your lychee daiquiri, or even in your fruit salad,” he said.
Good-looking stone fruit
Tess Winkler, a peaches and nectarine grower from Childers, near Bundaberg, said her trees were full of fantastic fruit.
Ms Winkler said her stone fruit was larger last season, but this year’s quality would still be exceptional.
“The taste of our fruits [is] usually really, really good,” she said.
“There’s going to be [peaches and nectarines] in abundance from our little place.
“As long as we don’t get any storms or hail, hopefully we’ll have a good year.”
