Why Indian mangoes remain rare in New Zealand supermarkets

As India's mango season draws to a close, importers and retailers say interest in Indian mangoes continues to grow nationwide.

But while Indian supermarkets are expanding their range and selling increasing volumes, mainstream supermarkets remain cautious about stocking the fruit.

India's mango season typically runs from April until mid-July, ending with the arrival of the monsoon rains.

Importers say the challenge is not a lack of demand but the economics of bringing the fruit to New Zealand and selling it at prices that shoppers are willing to pay.

Prasad Salaskar of Salient Enterprise has been importing fresh produce, including mangoes, for more than a decade.

He supplies Indian mangoes to some mainstream supermarkets, including Foodstuffs North Island and Woolworths.

"The demand is surging every year," he said.

"We were trying to promote [Indian mangoes] into mainstream supermarkets and we got a little bit of success but ... fierce competition [from] Indian supermarkets was killing the fruit."

Salaskar has supplied mangoes to PAK'nSAVE stores in Mount Albert and Royal Oak, as well as several Woolworths supermarkets across the North Island.

He said supermarkets were interested in stocking Indian mangoes, but competing with Indian retailers was difficult when the same fruit could be sold for $10-15 less.

"That's where we're losing more of the business," he said.

Nirmal Pandey, who imports mangoes under his Auckland-based brand Mango Bite, has been in the business for more than 14 years.

"The demand is always there for Indian mangoes, but the market is very brutal and many newcomers are not able to survive due to the aggressive pricing of the market," he said.

Pandey has also supplied mangoes to mainstream supermarkets but now focuses primarily on selling directly to customers after establishing a supply chain from his farm in India.

"The market is really not there when it comes to mainstream supermarkets," he said.

He agreed that cost and competition were the biggest barriers preventing wider supermarket distribution.

Pandey imports about 36 varieties of Indian mangoes, noting that demand regularly created long queues at weekends.

"We used to do only two shipments a week but now we are doing eight to nine shipments a week," he said.

Among customers, the Kesar variety remains the most popular because of its sweetness, followed by Banganapalli.

Langra, Dasheri and the newer Himayat variety are also proving popular.

Pandey said Indian mangoes were attracting a broader customer base, with Chinese and Japanese shoppers increasingly buying the fruit.

Varieties such as Payri and Chausa are particularly popular among Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities.

The surge in demand is also being felt at Indian supermarkets such as Lotus Supermarket.

"Last year we got just two varieties and because of customer demand we increased our range and this year we had four to five varieties," said Manisha Mohan Pawar, a food technologist at Lotus Investments.

Lotus Investments has stocked Kesar, Banganapalli, Alphonso, Rajapuri and Dasheri mangoes this season.

"The response was crazy," she said.

"We never thought we would be able to sell so many mangoes."

Pawar said sales exceeded expectations, with stock expected to last a week selling out within two days.

While most customers were Indian, she said Kiwi and Chinese shoppers also showed growing interest in the fruit this year.

Why supermarkets are hesitant

"Indian mangoes are popular for their high quality and highly aromatic flavour," said Ryan McMullen, general manager of fruit and vegetables at Woolworths.

"While we buy a limited volume of mangoes from India every year, unfortunately we do not have plans to increase this volume due to the high pricing that comes with air freight for perishable lines," he said.

McMullen said Woolworths also imported pomegranate arils from India.

Foodstuffs told RNZ that Indian mangoes remained a niche product within its overall mango range and were available at only a small number of stores for a limited time each year.

"They tend to be more expensive than mangoes sourced from other countries as they're airfreighted to New Zealand," a Foodstuffs spokesperson said.

"Their limited availability, short shelf life and higher price point mean that only a small number of Foodstuffs stores have chosen to stock them."

Foodstuffs said while Indian mangoes were popular among some customers, feedback from stores suggests affordability remained an important consideration for many shoppers.

The supermarket group said it had seen growing interest in Indian products in recent years and remained committed to offering products that help customers enjoy familiar flavours from home.

"Our produce teams are always looking at opportunities to bring customers new and interesting products, and we're continuing to explore options for imported produce from India where there is customer demand and a strong value proposition," the spokesperson said.

The import outlook for Indian mangoes could improve in the coming years, with legislation to implement the free trade agreement with India tabled in Parliament last week.

Salaskar believed more could be done to introduce Indian mangoes to mainstream consumers.

"Recently the Indian government had done some promotion for Indian mangoes in Australia, and we would really love to see something similar in New Zealand so that non-Indians can also enjoy the fruit," he said.