It might be the dead of winter across most of Australia, but on the outskirts of Darwin tropical mangoes are already being picked.

Super-early Kensington Pride mangoes hit the Sydney Markets this week and fetched up to $70 a tray.

"Over the last couple of weeks we've punched out about 4,000 trays," said Tim Elliott from Red Rich Fruits.

"Most of the sales have been into high-end fruit shops. The restaurant trade is a bit slow at the moment because of COVID [lockdowns], but hopefully that will free up soon."

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Mr Elliott said over the years, mango growers in the NT "had perfected the art" of getting mango trees to fruit earlier.

"Years ago the mango season would [be fairly short] and would start flat out and end flat out," he said.

"But the season now goes much longer and it gets mangoes in front of consumers [more].

He said, in July, volumes were very small and spasmodic with the NT's main crop coming online in September and October.

NT is mango king

According to the Australian Mango Industry Association (AMIA), growers across the country produced around 8.2 million trays last season, down on the previous three years where industry consistently cracked 10 million trays.

AMIA data indicates the Northern Territory produced 53.6 per cent of the national crop.

It was followed by Queensland which produced 43.8 per cent and Western Australia with 2.5 per cent.

The NT's mango industry has expanded over the past 10 years and will continue to grow as plantations mature.

Tim Elliott said this season was shaping up well and as long as there were no issues with sourcing labour it should be a good year for growers and consumers.

"I don't think any grower in Darwin could say they're 100 per cent confident of getting a full workforce … but pending no more government changes to the international workforce we should be okay," he said.

"I think the overall season is shaping up very well, and consumer should start seeing mangoes in major supermarkets towards the end of August."