Royal Honey mandarin demand putting North Burnett on international market map

Ironbark Citrus directors Susan and Allen Jenkin expect demand for the Royal Honey Murcott will increase to close to 5,500 tonnes in the next four years, a demand they say has warranted investment in new infrastructure capable of processing the fruit, as well as supporting up to 60 regional jobs. 

The Royal Honey Murcott mandarin variety has a unique, low acid taste profile which is especially attractive to the Asian palate, and growers have identified huge potential for growth as a favoured variety in Asian export markets – and it commands a premium price.  

A Rural Economic Development (RED) Grant will allow Susan and Allen to establish a regional horticulture export hub in the North Burnett, including processing, marketing, container loading and transport services for local produce through a packing line and blemish sorter.  

“This new facility will allow for fruit to be processed in a timely fashion and within market windows when there is no competition from cheaper citrus offerings,” Susan said.  

“The blemish sorter will provide state of the art consistent grading of the citrus increasing the quality and consistency of the citrus offering.

“As Australian citrus is a premium, high price product in many of our export markets, high quality and consistency is very important to justify the high asking price.” 

The new facility will support 10 jobs during construction and 20 once up and running, plus another 30 indirect positions.  

“These jobs allow for fruit to be prepared for export in the local area, rather than being shipped elsewhere to be processed,” Susan said.  

“The fruit can be picked on farm, packed on farm, pre-cooled on farm, loaded into export containers on farm, and transported directly to port.  

“This keeps the jobs in the local area, rather than fruit being shipped closer to port for processing.” 

The orchard area spans over three farms in the North Burnett, comprising of more than 75,000 producing mandarin trees.  

Susan said horticultural expansion in the North Burnett region suggested there would be a severe shortfall in processing capacity in the next few years.  

She said specific varieties had to be processed in line with market windows determined through competition in international markets – something the expansion would be able to ensure.  

“By 2021, there will not be sufficient processing capacity in the North Burnett to manage the projected increase in volumes of this variety during its market window,” Susan said.  

“This facility will be able to provide extra processing capacity for citrus outside the Royal Honey mandarin window.” 

Susan said citrus was a major industry in the North Burnett and benefited from strong community and local government support.  

“It is a major employer of local people. Any expansion in this industry has flow on effects throughout the community, through increased employment opportunities and consequent increased demand for goods and services, housing, increased requirements for horticultural inputs and increased requirements for transport services.”  

The Rural Economic Development (RED) Grants program offers emerging projects up to $250,000 in co-contributions to build industry and grow employment opportunities across the agricultural sector. The $10 million grants program provides for three funding rounds over a three-year period ending 2021. 

A total of 14 businesses have received $3.34 million under the second round of funding for the RED Grants program. Overall these 14 projects are expected to create more than 600 jobs across the agricultural sector in regional Queensland.

QRIDA offers a range of assistance to primary producers, small business and non-profit organisations. To find out what’s available visit Programs and Services.

The Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA) administer the RED Grant scheme on behalf of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.