Tonnes of high-quality mangoes will remain unpicked in Western Australia's north this year, as prices for the popular summer fruit plummet.
Mangoes are selling for as low as $2 apiece in supermarkets across the country, as volumes from several production areas hit the market at the same time.
Steve Angel runs Swag Rural Mangoes, WA's biggest mango farm, on the outskirts of Kununurra.
He estimates more than 400 bins of mangoes will remain nestled in the 120,000 trees of his orchard this season.
That is about two weeks' worth of picking.
"It was an unfortunate decision that was made; it was just an economic decision," Mr Angel said.
"It wasn't viable to pick and pack it and send it to market."
Why are mangoes so cheap?
Christopher Cope has been assessing fruit and vegetables at the Sydney markets for about 50 years.
He said mangoes usually hit supermarket shelves at a steady pace, with staggered ripening times in growing regions across northern Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and north Queensland.
But unusual seasonal conditions had changed the time of picking in some regions.
"Generally, there's a gap between Katherine and Mareeba and the coastal Queensland fruit," Mr Cope said.
"This year there wasn't; there's been an overlap in all of them."
With the market flooded, prices had dropped close to historic lows, with the R2E2 variety suffering the harshest value squeeze.
"This year is probably one of the worst years we've seen for a while," Mr Cope said.
"For that Darwin fruit at the end, you're talking about a dollar a tray.
"That doesn't cover the cost of the package or the transport or the packing or the merchants and storage and everything else."
Mr Cope expected an increased demand for mangoes over the Christmas period and the high quality of fruit coming out of Queensland would see prices bounce back in the coming weeks.
Farmer impact
The price improvement has come too late for Mr Angel.
He said the decision to end his season early had been difficult but with staffing challenges, wet weather, and increased freight costs, he was left with little choice.
"You sit there and second guess yourself and you think, 'Should I or shouldn't I?', but at the end of the day, you can't afford to have a loss … that's it in a nutshell," he said.
"It's not easy, but I don't think anyone is doing it easy at the moment."
Despite the market difficulties, Mr Angel said 2022 had been a positive year for his farm, with strong prices early in the season and good fruit quality.
