Dragon fruit popularity is growing and farmers hope the industry can keep pace

Whether it's the rise of the breakfast smoothie bowl or the controversy around TikTok's viral "pink sauce" craze, the explosion of demand for dragon fruit has pushed the nascent Australian industry into a recruitment drive.

Key points: Native to Central and South America, dragon fruit has been cultivated in Australia since the 1970s New growers find it difficult to access specific advice and research due to the small size of the industry. Consumer demand has increased, but local producers must compete with imports.

No longer just the darling of Asian consumers, over the past three years the exotic fruit with pink or white flesh has made its way onto supermarket shelves and shoppers have responded.

But with small domestic industry still finding its feet, retailers have turned to foreign imports to maintain supply.

The newly formed Australian Dragon Fruit Growers Association hopes that a drive to recruit new growers will help make more high-quality local fruit available on a consistent basis.

p>

Producer and association secretary Jim Hoa Yang Li said that in the past, producers have struggled to access information and markets, but now is the time. came to support an expansion.

"For those interested in the industry, we can provide the network of professional producers and stakeholders," Mr. Li said.

"They can gain the knowledge and experience of growing dragon fruit… [and] visit our commercial farms to learn on the spot.

" [ They will] have access to industry-level resources, such as cuttings of unique varieties, specialized fertilizers, and how on different farms we have different ways of growing them."

Producers haven't had access to much research on the best practices of cultivation for this unique tropical fruit. (ABC Rural: Kallee Buchanan)

He said that although still small, the industry was maturing and he was confident that the group could attract new producers and existing producers.

"We are seeing a slow growth trend...the industry is not really a big industry, but the association s is growing," he said.

"We are moving forward to improve a little bit in everything I believe in.

"I think those who have really have a passion to grow they will be very interested."

Consistency is key to scaling

The association was formed in 2021 to represent the commercial supply chain and to bridge a lack of coordinated research, agronomy, sourcing and marketing.

Federal government research group AgriFutures Australia estimated that there were 40,000 trees in Australia, producing around 740 tonnes with a gross value of $2.2 million.

Wholesaler Richard Birtill said demand had soared over the past three years as chains stores were stocking the fruit, but growers had to provide a steady supply to take advantage of the increased interest.

"Australian dragon fruit production is quite cyclical," he said.

"We get large quantities of fruit for probably two weeks the day before ry six, then the supply dies again.

"It comes and goes in waves, which suits the specialty market [but] the mass market...