Your local supermarket stocks mangoes 365 days a year, yet it’s surprisingly rare to find a truly delicious one.
If you’ve ever bought a promising-looking mango from a high street supermarket, only to be disappointed by the taste, you’re not alone. Despite approximately 16 million mangoes imported into the UK each year, the quality of a generic supermarket mango is often lacking. But why is this the case and where do most UK supermarkets source their mangoes?
Common Mango Varieties Found In UK Supermarkets
Introducing 'The Big 3’. The most common mango varieties that you’ll find in supermarket aisles up and down the country:
Tommy Atkins Mango
- Look:. Oblong. Deep red blush with yellowy undertones. Known for its firm, orange flesh. Very thick skin
- Taste: Often not very sweet, sour, and fibrous.
- Origins: Mainly imported to the UK from South America (Peru, Ecuador, Brazil) as well as Mexico and West Africa.
- Availability: The most common variety, usually available year-round.
Keitt Mango
- Look: usually larger than most. The colour is often green and stays green even when ripe. Thick skin.
- Taste: Sweet with a little sourness. A little fibre.
- Origins: Imported from Spain, Central America, and South Africa.
- Availability: August to October in the UK.
Kent Mango
- Look: Smaller than both Tommy and Keitt. They often have some red or yellow blushes on the skin.
- Taste: Sweet with subtle sourness. Limited fibres.
- Origins: Imported from South America, particularly Brazil, Peru and Ecuador
- Availability: Usually winter and spring in the UK.
Why Do Supermarkets Choose These Varieties of Mangoes?
Although there are more than 1,000 mango varieties worldwide UK supermarkets usually stock these three types. Unsurprisingly, the cost is the main factor influencing these choices, rather than flavour. Below are some of the key advantages UK supermarkets gain by focusing on such a limited variety:
Resilient Skins
Most UK-imported mangoes have thick skins, making them resistant to damage and bruising as they travel through the supply chain.
Cheaper Transportation Costs
Supermarket mangoes are generally picked very unripe, allowing transport via sea over several weeks instead of air freight, significantly reducing shipping costs. This results in improved profit margins and more attractive prices to customers.
Longer Shelf Life & Ripening Process
Harvested prematurely, the sea-freighted mangoes undergo a gradual ripening process while aboard the vessel during the several-week journey to the UK and Europe. On arrival, they are often stored in cold storage before being moved into high-humidity “ripening chambers” where they are artificially ripened with Ethylene gas, a naturally occurring plant hormone.
Why Supermarket Mangoes Often Disappoint
A combination of a variety chosen for commerce, early harvesting, and fruit storage results in a product that’s not picked for taste and flavour – but for cost, logistics, and convenience.
The Superiority of Sun-Ripened Alphonso Mangoes.
Alphonso Mango
- Look: Golden yellow skin (that can even be eaten!) and slightly smaller than supermarket types.
- Taste: Unparallel sweetness, juicy with a creamy fibreless texture and delicious fragrance that invites you to eat it.
- Origins: Western India
- Availability: Late spring to summer. April to July.
Unlike common supermarket options available year-round, our Alphonso mangoes undergo a 90-day harvesting period, soaking up the sun's rays before being handpicked in peak season.
This results in mangoes that are not only more nutritious and bursting with flavour but also with smooth, fibre-free flesh that peels away from the skin and an alluring fragrance. A must try.
Treat yourself to a mango that stands out from the ordinary, and browse our collection of premium Alphonso mangoes.