Whether it's the rise of the breakfast smoothie bowl or the controversy of TikTok's viral "pink sauce" craze, exploding demand for dragon fruit has pushed the fledgling Australian industry into a recruitment drive.
No longer just the darling of Asian consumers, in the past three years the exotic pink or white-fleshed fruit has made its way onto supermarket shelves and shoppers have responded.
But with the small domestic industry still finding its feet, retailers have turned to foreign imports to maintain supply.
The recently formed Australian Dragon Fruit Growers Association hopes a recruitment drive for new growers will help make more high-quality local fruit consistently available.
Grower and association secretary Jim Hoa Yang Li said, in the past, growers had struggled to access information and markets, but the time was now ripe to support an expansion.
"For those who are interested in the industry, we can provide the network of professional growers and the stakeholders," Mr Li said.
"They can learn the knowledge and experience of dragon fruit cropping … [and] visit our commercial farms to learn on site.
"[They'll have] access to industry-level resources, for example cuttings of unique varieties, specialised fertiliser, and how in different farms we have different ways of growing them."
He said, while still small, the industry was maturing and he was confident the group could attract new and existing producers.
"We do see a trend growing slowly … the industry isn't really a big industry, but the association is getting bigger," he said.
"We are stepping ahead to get a bit better at everything I believe.
"I think the ones that truly have passion in growing them will be quite interested."
Consistency the key to going mainstream
The association was formed in 2021 to represent the commercial supply chain, and to address a shortfall of coordinated research, agronomy, supply and marketing.
Federal government research group AgriFutures Australia estimated there were 40,000 trees in Australia, producing about 740 tonnes with a gross value of $2.2 million.
Wholesaler Richard Birtill said demand exploded in the past three years as chain stores stocked the fruit, but growers needed to provide consistent supply to take advantage of the surge in interest.
"Production of Australian dragon fruit is quite cyclical," he said.
"We get large quantities of fruit for probably two weeks in every six, and then the supply dies again.
"It comes and goes in waves, which suits the specialist market [but] the mass market still has a problem with that."
Mr Birtill said inconsistency of supply also meant inconsistent prices, but that could stabilise if there were more growers to support marketing efforts.
"Certainly the whole market for exotic fruit has continued to grow very significantly in the past three years since the start of COVID-19," he said.
"The health benefits of these things are coming through. We're attempting to do more marketing of this type of thing.
"All these exotic fruits really have those advantages to them."
The federal government is currently assessing the risk of importing more fruit from the Philippines, a move that has some growers worried.
But Mr Birtill said imports were inferior to the domestic product, which is high in antioxidants and considered a super food by some.
"Australia holds a premium position in the market from that point of view," he said.
"Imports maintain the visibility of the product on the shelf and to the consumer and maintain a certain amount of that market.
"I actually believe that it has enabled the market to grow because it's not just a very short season fruit."
Pretty and delicious
When Sunshine Coast grower Bob Martin planted his first dragon fruit 14 years ago he deliberately chose an unusual crop, but that meant there was little grower support.
"We had a lot of difficulty when it came to diseases and how to manage those diseases … we really didn't have any other growers to call," he said.
"I think that's the good thing about associations, we can always fall back and seek advice from other growers."
Mr Martin said, while he did face challenges, it was a relatively easy crop to get started, and having access to an association gave new growers a better chance.
"I do recommend that you be part of a group such as the association to find out how to go about it successfully," he said.
"We probably would have gone a bit harder at growing, putting in more plants than what we had.
"It's quite an easy plant to grow. They grow from cuttings."
Extension catching up
As consumers took more notice of the fruit, Mr Martin urged people to get involved.
"Rather than [just] saying that's a pretty bit of fruit that decorates this table, it's quite a delicious piece of fruit to eat as well," he said.
"That's the message that we're trying to get across to people and the more promotion we can get for that fruit, it certainly helps the farmers."
CQUniversity associate professor Stephen Xu specialises in horticulture production systems.
He said as the climate changed there could be advantages for farmers to consider the crop.
"One very unique thing is this is a cactus plant, and potentially in a climate that's warmer and possibly drier it is well adapted," he said.
"Fruit trees often need a few years of stock development, but dragon fruit can be pretty quick," he said.
He has delivered two reports on dragon fruit including a literature review of guidelines for growing with advice on major pests and diseases.
He hoped to reach out to growers in north and central Queensland to help expand the knowledge base of the industry.
