{"revision":"d54d68e3e30b04c6","item":{"id":"alphonso-mango","name":"Ratnagiri Alphonso Mango","tagline":"The king of mangoes, air-freighted from the Konkan coast","category":"food","price":{"amount":42,"display":"~$42 / mango","note":"imported; ~$10/kg in-season in India","currency":"USD","unit":"mango","scope":"unit_estimate","verified":false},"rarity":92,"img":"img/mango-photo.jpg","imageCredit":"Unsplash contributor","imageSource":"https://unsplash.com/s/photos/colorful-fruit","imageNote":"Mango still life; variety not verified.","palette":["#f5a623","#c1440e","#3a1503"],"why":"True Alphonsos grow almost exclusively in a narrow strip of laterite soil along Maharashtra's Konkan coast, are GI-tagged, and ripen in a frantic 6-week window (April–June). The US banned Indian mango imports until 2007; even now they must be irradiated and flown in within days.","story":"One bite is saffron, honey, and citrus with zero fiber — a texture no supermarket mango has ever approached. The season is so short that Mumbai families plan weddings around it. What you ate before was a different fruit wearing the same name.","gift":"Send a dozen to someone in May and you become the person who introduced them to a new category of experience. Perishable, seasonal, unforgettable.","where":"Specialty importers each spring (Suvai, Ratnagiri direct shippers); Indian grocery wholesalers in major US cities.","hiddenReason":"It's a 6-week agricultural event, not a product listing. Aggregators index year-round SKUs; a fruit that exists for six weeks and sells via WhatsApp importers is invisible to them.","tags":["mango","alphonso","india","ratnagiri","fruit","konkan","seasonal","food","gift"],"availability":"seasonal_unverified","caveat":"A seasonal discovery. The estimate is for one imported mango, not a box; check harvest dates, delivery and import availability.","evidenceStatus":"unverified_editorial","verifiedAt":null,"kind":"Fruit","url":"/rarities/alphonso-mango"}}