Mango Beverages Making all the Difference

Article by: Hari Yellina

A mango grower in north Queensland is offering customers the chance to enjoy their fruit and beverage at the same time, and all for a good cause. In order to offer a meal for someone experiencing food insecurity, Manbulloo Mangoes and Local Brewing Co. of Melbourne have partnered to produce a mango sour. A portion of the proceeds from each six-pack sold will be donated to Second Bite. A national organisation called Second Bite, which was founded in Victoria, redistributes fresh food to more than 1300 community food programmes around the nation to assist in feeding disadvantaged Australians.

Manbulloo has been working with Second Bite for a number of years, giving fruit that wouldn’t quite fit on the store’s shelves. However, supply chain manager Karl Gyger of Manbulloo stated that the company was searching for a way to contribute further. “We asked Second Bite if there was anything else we could be doing to support the charity, and they connected us with Local Brewing Co., who talked with us about the possibility of using some of the fruit to create a sour.” “We had been delivering a lot of fruit to Second Bite, which was wonderful, but some of it had some flaws, so Local Brewing Co. took it, saving us from throwing away food that would have otherwise gone to waste. “They’re a fantastic organisation made up of young, entrepreneurial women and men from Melbourne who make beers, stouts, and sours using waste goods, such as using leftover bread in place of grains.

We therefore believed that this would be a great method to further support the charity. Mr. Gyger claimed that making the sour was a fantastic substitute for tossing away the less-appealing fruit and was also benefiting others. He claimed that it makes use of farm goods that would have otherwise gone to waste. “And it goes to a really excellent cause. We are giving to a charity because we think they do wonderful things for people.” Seven farms are owned by Manbulloo in Australia, including two in the Northern Territory, two close to Townsville, and three closer to Mareeba. Manbulloo is primarily a grower of mangoes, but they also cultivate avocados and are currently expanding their product line to include jackfruit and yuzu. The first Katherine farm was established in the 1980s, and it has since grown to become the biggest producer of Kensington pride in Australia.