The last day of January brings us to the Achacha end of month draw. As
Danny, assisted by Joanna, from Bondi Road Fruitologist pulled out two names
we thought it only fair to celebrate the last day of the first month of 2012
with two prize winners: one goes to you Sasha Hickerson and another for you
Megan Rapp. Bravo and enjoy your Achachas. Please contact us via the web
site, thank you.
Maria Martelli, with the help of Phillip, from Martelli’s Fruit Market, Cherrybrook assisted in drawing the winner of the Oz Day 5 kilo box of Achachas. Congratulations to Lizz Robb! Lizz informs us that she has become a big Achacha fan since being introduced to it at Baroque Bistro in The Rocks, Sydney. Martelli’s, past winners of the SMH Fruit Shop of the Year, have beautiful fruit markets in Cherrybrook, Rouse Hill and Epping, and have been excellent Achacha supporters since the outset. Thank you Martelli’s!
Tank Restaurant and Achacha joined forces recently to showcase the Achacha tropical fruit. People warmed up or chilled out, rather, on the refreshing and very popular Ali-cha-cha cocktail created by Tank’s creative staff. The evening finished with his now famous Achacha Crema when grown men were seen hiding and licking their plates! In between delicious morsels kept flowing from the kitchen. Thank you Alastair McLeod, chef and co-owner at Tank Restaurant. We highly recommend a visit!
Achacha wish to thank Filipe Paiva and Carla Marques from Fruit Ezy,
Chatswood, NSW for assisting today with the draw for a New Year box of
Achachas. We thought it would a nice way to thank those who have entered
our first draw for a 5 kilo box of fruit and to wish you all a very Happy
New Year. Congratulations to the winner, Matthew Dunn. We hope this is a
good omen for the year to come Matthew!
We encourage all Achacha followers to get cracking and enter the draw for
the next box which will be decided at the end of January. Those who have
already entered please feel free to re-enter, hopefully with new locations.
Please send the name of the location and the date to our Facebook.
Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2012!
Achacha reports that it has commenced harvesting the new season’s crop, and fruit should be in stores in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and SA over the next few weeks. Palm Creek Plantation Manager Ross Oliveri reports that the fruit is the best yet, having had excellent growing conditions during the year. Coincidentally, Achacha is pleased to announce that it has been nominated by the jury as a finalist for Berlin’s FRUIT LOGISTICA Innovation Award 2012, “the most coveted award in the fresh produce industry”.
The Achacha is a tropical fruit which has its origins in the Amazon Basin of Bolivia. Now grown in North Queensland, it has a bright orange skin and a unique flavour which has been described as “sweet, tangy, refreshing”. It will be available in good fruit outlets as quickly as it can be harvested and distributed. Export sales are also under way – the fruit will be in Paris, Amsterdam, Moscow and Dubai before New Year.
The FRUIT LOGISTICA Innovation Award 2012 is part of FRUIT LOGISTICA 2012 which will take place in Berlin, Germany from 8-10 February 2012. This is the world’s major fruit fair. The products nominated will feature in a special display area, with more than 56,000 trade visitors from 125 countries having a chance to vote for the innovation of the year during the event’s first two days. The winner will be announced at an award ceremony on the final day of the fair.
Presented to honour outstanding innovations in the fresh produce sector, the award recognises new products or services that have had a positive impact on the market. Introduced in 2006, it will be presented in 2012 for the seventh time by Messe Berlin and FRUCHTHANDEL MAGAZINE (Dusseldorf)
Attracting widespread interest from industry experts and the media, the Innovation Award has become the most coveted award in the fresh produce industry. Previous winners include “Salanova” lettuce produced by Rijk Zwaan (2006), “Vitamini’s” vegetable snack produced by FresQ/Rainbow Growers Group (2007), the “Intense” beefsteak tomato from Nunhems Netherlands BV (2008), the “Sweet Green Pepper” produced by Enza Zaden (2009) the Arils Removal Tool (ART) for pomegranates developed by Mehadrin Tnuport Export (2010) and (the first non-European winner) the Limeburst Finger Limes citrus fruit from Australia (2011).
Achacha attended Brisbane South Bank’s second Regional Flavours food fair at the end of August. One hundred Queensland producers and winemakers from all corners of the State were busy over the two days talking with thousands of visitors. The Achacha Blossom Raw Honey proved a winner and sold out; Achacha Jelly and Marmalade, which made their debut on the stall, received positive feedback and won fans. The versatile Jelly can be used as a marinade for white meats, to accompany fresh cheeses and, for example,
on scones.
Here are the first of our stockists:
Brisbane
· Clayfield Fruit Market: 823 Sandgate Road, Clayfield QLD 4011 (07) 3262 8111
· Superior Fruit & Wendy’s Kitchen: 365 Honour Avenue, Graceville QLD 4075 (07) 3379 7508
Granite Belt
· Ballandean Estate Winery Cellar Door, 354 Sundown Rd, Ballandean Qld 4382, +61 7 4684 1226; see www.ballandeanestate.com
Sydney
· ·Favaloso Café Deli Store: Corner Murray and Belgrave Streets, Bronte 02 9389 8002
· ·Cheese Selectors: EQ Markets Moore Park on Wed and Sat.
For information: fruit [at] achacha.com.au
Sydney’s food lovers are revving up for the Taste of Sydney starting this Thursday, 10 March. The weather looks good for an outdoor degustation in Centennial Park, off Parkes Drive.
Oh, la la! Today we sampled our first Achacha macaron crafted by Jean Michel – the master macaron maker from Baroque Bistro (and Renaissance) home of the original Sydney macaron. If you, too, would like to know how delicious they are, simply visit the Achacha stand D3. Of course, we will have lots of fresh Achacha and also Achacha honey which proved very popular last week at Eveleigh Markets – be quick as supply is limited.
You can find Achacha at Taste of Sydney, Centennial Park 10-13 March. For programmes and tickets go to www.tasteofsydney.com.au.
Fruit Logistica 2011 from achacha on Vimeo.
The Achacha’s voyage to Australia has already been documented on this website (click here to see the widely acclaimed video The Chase); click here to see the next adventure of this peripatetic fruit as it hits Europe for the first time. More information in the story below, and in the Berlin Media Release.
Over the last month or so ABC TV Landline filmed the Achacha story at Palm Creek Plantation in North Queensland (before and after Cyclone Yasi) and Sydney locations. The program went to air on ABC1 TV on 13 & 14 February 2011. You can watch the program or read the transcript on iView until 8 April.
Please contact any friends or acquaintances who might be interested and let them know it is on.
The producer is Kerry Staight from Adelaide. Kerry is shown photographing the grading line – side and rear views!
The Achacha made its European debut at Fruit Logistica in Berlin, 9-11 February 2011, as part of the Horticulture Australia stand. Fruit Logistica Berlin is the world’s principal fruit fair; it is huge – with 2,300 companies present. As a product which had never been seen in Europe before, the Achacha created a buzz around the Australian stand, with up to 20 fruit professionals waiting to sample the 2,000 fruit airfreighted to Berlin for the purpose. Have a look at the video page to see a snapshot of the show.
We would like to thank our Achacha friends for their concern and messages after Cyclone Yasi. We were luckier than many of our fellow tropical fruit growers and wish them well in their recovery. We have lost some trees but our loss is minimal. Harvesting will recommence on Monday and we will continue to provide fruit in the weeks to come.
See the ABC News article “New tropical fruit stands up to cyclone”, written by Kerry Staight.
If you are keen to purchase Achacha and your local fruit shop doesn’t stock them please suggest they contact Fresha (part of Moraitis) in Shed A or L.R. Moss in Shed B at Flemington Markets.
Also, check the Buy online page on this website.
Many local greengrocers are now stocking Achacha along with some Coles, Woolworths and ThomasDux stores. Please see Where to Buy.
During a lull in the rains, picking has been taking place at Palm Creek Plantation. Fruit will be available in parts of Brisbane and Sydney from Monday 24 January. Victoria will be a little later – probably the first week of February.
If your local fruit shop does not stock Achacha, suggest to the owner that you would like to buy it!
This season if you live in Queensland, NSW (except plant quarantine areas) or ACT you will be able to order online; see the Buy Online pages. Unfortunately we can’t offer this service yet to Victoria due to plant quarantine restrictions.
Channel 7 in Queensland is showing an interesting and exciting series of food programs. The first was screened at 7pm Saturday 4 December 2010, with three more in the series; check TV guides for screening dates. Called “Off the Eaten Track”, the series features Alastair McLeod, executive chef at Bretts Wharf Restaurant and Tank, a new venue, both in Brisbane. Alastair is frenetic, witty, irreverent, knowledgeable and wise – what more could you ask from a celebrity chef? And he can cook – check out his Achacha Dessert (see recipes), which he prepared for the launch of the series a couple of weeks ago. Achacha featured in the first program, on the Burdekin. Don’t miss the series if you are in Queensland!
