The new variety of red-flesh plum known as Queen Garnet is in high demand as revellers prepare for the Chinese New Year festival.
Growers Hardev and Bella Bhatti from Bhatti Fruit Orchard have been flying the top grade of their crop into China, with the rest to be shipped.
“We’ve been doing air drops for the festive season but it’s very expensive, especially right now,” Mrs Bhatti said.
“The rest will be shipped.”
Despite this being their first crop of Queen Garnet, the Bhattis have sold plums into China before and know the tricks of the trade.
“The consumers in China love a blue blush,” Mr Bhatti said.
“You’ve got to be careful not to wash or rub it off. To them it’s what plums should look like and it’s what they expect when they open the box.”
Developed by the Queensland Government and tightly licensed by Nutrafruit, the Queen Garnet has been making waves since 2014 in the health food space due to its high antioxidant content and deep red flesh.
“It’s become a bit of a superfood; it’s got a lot of antioxidants,” Mr Bhatti said of the plum.
“Plus, it’s good to grow something developed here in Australia. It suits our conditions quite well and it’s very grower-friendly.”
Only 30 other orchards in Australia are licensed to grow Queen Garnet — 12 of those are in the Goulburn Valley.
Bhatti Fruit Orchard is one of the few sheds in the country registered to export the plum into China, working with their export partner China Marketing Solutions to navigate the lack of international flights and COVID-19 restrictions.
“We haven't had any issues yet,” Mr Bhatti said of their trade into China.
“Our export partner is a very old operator and he's got the pull you need when dealing with China.”
The Bhattis planted their 10,000 Queen Garnet trees four years ago and have found the variety remarkably easy-doing.
Nutrafruit chief executive Luke Coach said the plum was expected to see a 300 per cent sales growth in 2021 in the export markets with United Arab Emirates, China, Canada, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore now accounting for up to 50 per cent of this year's harvest sales.
“More people are trying to find natural food to enhance their health and wellbeing amid the COVID-19 pandemic; we're expecting this year's harvest to sell out quickly,” Mr Coach said.
“With this increased international interest, we'll continue to heavily invest in export markets for premium pricing and sustained growth.”
Queen Garnet plums are currently in season and are available in Woolworths, Coles, select retail outlets and central produce markets until the end of March.
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