“We have structured our orchards to supply mandarins from April until August"

The Royal Honey Murcott is a mid-season mandarin developed in Mundubbera, Australia. It is a probable Murcott x Ellendale hybrid, a chance mutation developed by Allen and Susan Jenkin from Ironbark Citrus. The season for this variety runs from mid-May to June in Queensland and from mid-June to mid-July in New South Wales and Victoria. Royal Honey Murcott is an early-season murcott mandarin variety with a taste profile that is highly sought after in all of Ironbank Citrus' export markets. It is sweet with a low acid level and low seed count, and is fast becoming one of the world's favourite mandarin varieties with its unique "tropical" flavour.

Ironbark Citrus grows Royal Honey Murcott on their farm in Queensland. "We have four farms with a total of 220 hectares, half of which is planted with Honey Royal Murcott," said Dominic Jenkin. "We have structured our orchards to supply our customer base, incorporating varieties to supply mandarins from April until August. We pack our mandarins into 32 different sizes and grade combinations to ensure there is a product specification to suit all of our customers."

Ironbark Citrus exports extensively across the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East, sending mandarins to every market where Australian citrus has access.

"Volumes this season were slightly down. We do a lot to manipulate the size of our mandarins to make them fit the size profiles of our customers. This year, with the shorter crop and longer summer, we saw the sizes reach 2-3 sizes over where we wanted them to be. This caused some disappointment with our customers, but we feel that the outstanding internal quality and high Brix made up for it. We are always developing our client relationships and tailoring our production to our customer base, so we get the same support back in years where production is challenging. We will be more cautious this year and try to have a consistent crop."

Ironbark Citrus exports the majority of its fruit with BGP International; the companies have worked in partnership for many years. "At Ironbark Citrus, we have done a lot of work building our reputation and brand recognition for our name; it also makes us accountable for the quality of our product and encourages us to keep pushing to give our customers a great experience with our mandarins."

There are significant plantings of the Royal Honey Murcott in South Africa, and trials have been taking place in the US, South America, and the Mediterranean. "The plantations in the Southern Hemisphere are really maturing, and we are now seeing mandarins that arrive on the market just as the Northern Hemisphere mandarins are finishing up. It has great taste and a perfect profile for major mandarin export markets. Sun World International has recently acquired the management rights for this variety, and continues to open up a network of growers for the variety to ensure that customers can be supplied with this delicious variety 12 months of the year."

For more information:
Dominic Jenkin
Ironbark Citrus
Tel: +61 455 402 906
[email protected]
www.ironbarkcitrus.com.au