A grower in Mildura, Victoria, reports increasing interest in jujube production as domestic demand continues to rise. Mick Costa planted the fruit in memory of his mother, who grew up in Italy and recalled eating jujubes. The fruit, also known as the Chinese date, originates from southwest Asia and is produced on long-established tree crops.
Costa said he first encountered the fruit again after moving to regional Victoria and decided to plant several trees. He noted, "I've been in several industries, I've done grapes, I've done vegetables, construction as well, tried a lot of things, and the most successful has been these jujubes." He added, "For the love of my mother, I wanted to have a look at jujubes, and it's the best thing I've ever done in my life."
According to Costa, the crop requires limited inputs aside from harvest labour. "They're very easy to grow; the only time they require work is during picking, which you don't mind, that's when the money comes in," he said. "As far as spraying goes, there are no diseases we worry about; we only spray for fruit flies."
Costa said domestic demand is strong, driven in part by consumer familiarity within Asian communities in Australia. "If you had a volume, you could also export them," he said. He added that if he were younger, he would expand plantings by 50 to 100 acres, or roughly 20 to 40 hectares.
Larger commercial interest in the crop is also emerging. In 2023, Seeka Australia, known for kiwifruit and nashi pear production, planted 40,000 jujube trees near Shepparton in Victoria. General manager of operations Jonathan Van Popering said the crop has performed steadily. "Demand has been pretty strong; last year was probably one of our best years," he said. "We had great fruit quality and sold through really well, no issues at all. Jujubes are priced better than our kiwifruit, nashi, or stone fruit. We're definitely satisfied with where it sits."
As plantings mature, Seeka Australia is assessing market pathways. Van Popering said, "We're investigating export markets and expect to export some fruit this coming season. We haven't exported yet simply because of the low volumes." He noted that domestic demand has absorbed available supply to date, but higher volumes may prompt exploration of export options to reach required price levels.
Producers in the region continue to evaluate jujube plantings as orchards develop and market opportunities expand.
Source: ABC News
