Mangoes produced by billionaire Andrew and Nicola Forrest's agribusiness Harvest Road Group are likely to be on Australian dinner tables this Christmas after a major expansion of its portfolio.
Following a step into the mango industry in 2017 with the diversification of Carnarvon's Brickhouse Station, 900 kilometres north of Perth, Harvest Road has purchased the neighbouring Gascoyne Mango Plantation.
The sale will more than double Harvest Road's mango operation at Brickhouse Station, which is not yet in production but cultivating 16 hectares of Kensington Pride and Yess mangoes.
Gascoyne Mango Plantation, formerly owned by long-term Carnarvon growers Gary and Kathleen Gibson, covers almost 22 hectares of land and supports more than 4,000 mostly mature Honey Gold, Kensington Pride, and R2E2 trees.
General manager at Harvest Road, Richard Kohne, said the purchase showed strong confidence in the mango industry and Carnarvon as a productive growing region.
"We're interested in mangoes given the strong consumer demand we see for that premium produce, particularly domestically," Mr Kohne said.
"The timing of the harvest [in Carnarvon] is something that's always been attractive to us, being more over the Christmas period versus other parts of the state."
Export potential for mango industry
While Harvest Road waits for its Brickhouse mango orchard to mature, Mr Kohne said the adjacent Gascoyne Mango Plantation, already in production, would continue to supply the domestic market while looking at exports longer term.
"We think [the local market] has been pretty strong over the past couple of years and we see that continuing," he said.
"Over time though we are interested to investigate whether there are export opportunities — not only for us, but probably for the industry more broadly.
"Harvest Road is an exporter of beef, predominantly, but also becoming an exporter of seafood.
"If there was an opportunity for us to export mangoes that would certainly be something we look into."
Sale shows success of Carnarvon growers
Carnarvon shire president and local mango grower Eddie Smith welcomed news of Mr Forrest's investment.
"To me it demonstrates to the community that the food bowl that we live in is alive and well, and there's a real interest in it by investors and business that are developing and trying to get into it in bigger and better ways," Mr Smith said.
Previous owners of the Gascoyne Mango Plantation, Gary and Kathleen Gibson, were not available to speak with ABC Rural, but it is understood the family sold the property to begin retirement.
Harvest Road's Richard Kohne would not confirm the final sale figure but said it had been put on the market for $2.5 million.
Mr Smith said the business had "operated extremely successfully" in the region.
"It's hats off to the previous owners for the work they've done. They've done a fantastic job and they get rewarded for it," he said.
"A lot of growers should be happy that a business like that has done so well and demonstrates to everybody that the growing community in Carnarvon is pretty good, they know what they're doing."
