Nando’s has revealed the motivation behind its “borrowing” of Bowen’s big mango – the launch of a new mango and lime flavour. 

On 27 February the chicken franchise held an event, which was accompanied by an eight metre replica of the big mango, at Melbourne’s Federation Square to launch its new flavour.

The big mango will be returned to its rightful owners on 28 February. On the day Nando’s will be handing out thousands of bottles of its PERi-PERi sauce to thank Bowen residents for allowing it to “borrow” their big mango.

“We hope that Bowen locals turn out in full force to see the Bowen Big Mango lifted back into place and get their share of Nando’s PERi-PERi goodness!” a press release on the Nando’s website reads.

Locals and the media alike were puzzled when the north Queensland town’s 10 tonne, three-storey high tourist attraction went missing on 24 February.

The mango was eventually found in a paddock behind Bowen’s tourist information centre, and on 25 February Nando’s revealed it was responsible for the incident, dubbing it “Mangogate.”

There was speculation that the stunt was linked to a new product launch, yet the company had failed to officially confirm why it had chosen to remove the big mango.