{"id":826220,"date":"2026-07-27T04:25:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T04:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/826220\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T04:25:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T04:25:15","slug":"imperial-mandarin-shortage-why-australias-favourite-winter-fruit-is-getting-much-harder-to-buy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/826220\/","title":{"rendered":"Imperial mandarin shortage: Why Australia\u2019s favourite winter fruit is getting much harder to buy"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve struggled to find your favourite mandarins in supermarkets lately<\/a>, you aren\u2019t alone. Unfavourable weather has hit Australia\u2019s winter crop of Imperial mandarins hard, leaving retailers falling short<\/a> of normal supplies.<\/p>\n

Anton van den Berg from community wholesale fruit supplier Box Divv<\/a>y has described this year\u2019s mandarin season<\/a> as \u201cpatchy\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s mandarin season has been described as \u2018patchy\u2019.\u00a0Jo Abi<\/p>\n

\u201cImperial mandarins, which normally sell well into August, appear to be coming to an end<\/a>, so that will put more pressure on Afourers and Murcotts to carry the rest of the season,\u201d van den Berg explained.<\/p>\n

Imperial mandarins are Australia\u2019s most popular variety<\/a>. They usually arrive in supermarkets around April and May, giving them a head start on other varieties. Their thin, loose skin makes them exceptionally easy to peel, making them a family-friendly choice for parents. They also typically feature a sweeter flavour and fewer seeds than other varieties<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, that thin skin also leaves Imperials particularly susceptible to harsh weather conditions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Imperial and Murcott mandarins are currently in season.\u00a0Jo Abi<\/p>\n

Extreme weather conditions in growing regions<\/p>\n

Major growing areas like South Australia\u2019s Riverland and parts of Queensland have faced severe weather extremes over recent months. Periods of extreme summer heatwaves followed by cold, wet winter conditions disrupted the essential flowering and fruit-setting process.<\/p>\n

Moisture on the trees further restricted picking schedules, as harvesting wet citrus damages the delicate skin and slows down distribution to supermarkets. On top of the wet conditions, wind damage left crops blemished and far more difficult to sell to major retail chains.<\/p>\n

Afourers and Murcotts fill the void<\/p>\n

With Imperial stocks drying up, other varieties of mandarins are being stocked in their place, though van den Berg explained each brings its own quirks.<\/p>\n

\"Mandarin<\/p>\n

Other varieties of mandarins are filling the void left by Imperials.\u00a0iStock<\/p>\n

\u201cMurcotts are good early in the season, as they are still low in seed, but as the season progresses, they\u2019ll get more and more seedy. So Afourers are it,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not a bad thing: they\u2019re very sweet with literally no seeds, so that alone makes them popular with kids. The only real advantage that Imperials have is that they are easier to peel, but they usually have a few seeds. Yuck.\u201d<\/p>\n

Box Divvy is currently selling Afourer mandarins for around $3 a kilo, while dwindling Imperial stocks are sitting at just under $4 a kilo.<\/p>\n

Coles, Woolworths and Aldi don\u2019t have a shortage of mandarin varieties, aside form the shorter Imperial season. Coles is selling Imperial mandarins for $3.90 per kilo, and Aldi has them priced at $3.99. Woolworths doesn\u2019t appear to have Imperial mandarins in stock, according to their website.<\/p>\n

Coles is also selling Afourer, Murcott and Royal Honey mandarin varieties. Woolworths has in stock Amorette, Afourer, Tangold, and Phoenix, and Aldi is stocking Clementine mandarins, Tangold and Honey Murcott.<\/p>\n

Oranges and other citrus <\/p>\n

Mandarins are not the only citrus category impacted by adverse weather and market shifts. Oranges have also taken a hit, as van den Berg explained.<\/p>\n

\"oranges<\/p>\n

Mandarins are not the only citrus category impacted by adverse weather.\u00a0Nine<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year was a great time for Cara Cara oranges. This is a sub-variety of Navels, but sweeter and with a more intense colour,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a typical boom-and-bust scenario: because of last year\u2019s over-supply, prices were low and growers didn\u2019t make much money. So what do they do? Pull out some trees, reduce fertilising levels and yield, and bingo: supply is tight and prices are a lot higher now.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a result, regular Navels offer the best value right now at under $2 a kilo, while Cara Caras sit closer to $3 a kilo.<\/p>\n

The best value produce this week\"<\/p>\n

Lemons are enjoying a bumper seasons, but limes are scarce.\u00a0Jo Abi<\/p>\n

While limes are currently out of season and setting shoppers back well over $10 a kilo, other citrus fruits are having a massive moment.<\/p>\n

Lemons are the undeniable hero in supermarkets right now, remaining extremely affordable and abundant. Good quality fruit is selling for under $3 a kilo, or around 50 cents a piece.<\/p>\n

For bargain hunters looking across the whole fruit aisle, van den Berg notes the absolute best value buys this week are lemons, Afourer mandarins, Nashi pears and small strawberries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you\u2019ve struggled to find your favourite mandarins in supermarkets lately, you aren\u2019t alone. Unfavourable weather has hit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":826221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-826220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/826220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=826220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/826220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/826221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=826220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=826220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=826220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}