A Queensland Dragon Fruit grower says he would like to see the fruit promoted a lot more to coincide with the growth of the industry.
Bruce and Carol Wallace own Prickle Patch Farm, near Bundaberg, where they grow 1.5 hectares alongside sugar cane. While Mr Wallace admits that the industry is not as big as other produce lines, and therefore does not get the attention of products like avocados, he says he tries to promote the fruit the best he can.
"The audience that are eating them is growing all the time," Mr Wallace said. "We try to promote it in small ways, with things like tours on the farm - just little things that we do to get people to taste it and talk about it. The market is slowly growing as the volume is growing. I thought (initially) prices would put people off, but it's the same with mangoes - at the beginning of the year people pay crazy money for mangoes, but end of the year if they had enough, if they are cheaper, they'll eat them."
The amount of Dragon Fruit growers is also increasing. Prickle Patch is one of the few larger commercial operations, with a lot of smaller 'backyard' producers, who grow the fruit for a supplementary income.
The farm produces around 40 tonnes a year, depending on the weather conditions. This year was around average, despite a difficult growing period, with hot dry spells and high UV index, followed by heavy rain for a few weeks, which affected production. Prickle Patch grows three different varieties of Dragon Fruit - red, white and yellow, each with their own unique flavours. Mr Wallace is trying to get beverage companies to trial the flavour in their products.
"We are trying to interest Bundaberg Brewed Drinks to put it in their drinks," he said. "We can make it into wine. At Ohana Wines in Childers there was roughly a tonne that was turned into wine this year. We are trying to reduce waste from the paddock. Waste is something that everyone is talking about, you know with bananas - too long, to straight. Sweet potatoes same thing - it's not accepted. There is a lot of waste in food production."
Mr Wallace started growing the fruit around 10 years ago, when sugar prices were fairly low, and he wanted to capitalise on an item that he thought had potential, after seeing its success in Asia. The fruit peaks during summer, and Prickle Patch supplies Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne markets, as well as being sold locally. People have even travelled from Asia to trial the farm's yellow variety, with Dragon Fruit having some strong health benefits.
"We have diabetics that buy it because they say they can eat it without it affecting the blood sugars too much," Mr Wallace said. "It helps with constipation too. It has a lot of nutrition in it, with Vitamin C and everything. So it's a good healthy piece of fruit, a super food at the moment."
For Prickle Patch Farms, it is just about getting the word out there.
"We give it away and have a stall on the side of the road," Mr Wallace said. "I really don't care if they steal it, because if they eat it they may one day buy a piece of the fruit."
For more information:
Bruce Wallace
Prickle Patch Farms
Phone: +61 427 556 322