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

Many thanks to those who have ventured out and purchased Achachas during the season. The Achacha will be back in December – we look forward to catching up with you again then. With luck, less rain, flooding and cyclones, the season will be longer.

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.

Achacha was showcased on ABC TV’s BTN on 22 February.  It is encouraging to see kids so interested in fruit.

We are continuously upgrading our website, and today we have linked our blog to twitter to make sure that Achacha lovers on Twitter will get updates as soon as we have made a new blog entry.

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!

Our new GP Electronic Grader has just been installed, replacing a smaller grader which our production has outgrown. The GP washes and grades the fruit then weighs it and sends it off down a chute where it is boxed ready for shipment. We’ll post some photos in due course.

Yes, they are late this year, as the trees flowered late, the result of an extremely warm winter. But there are many of them. Now all we need is for the rains to stop. Palm Creek Plantation has had rain for most of the last couple of months – which is exceptional. The best guess for fruit being available in a store near you is as follows:

Queensland, NSW:  From mid December.

Victoria: From second week in January.

If your local fruit shop does not have Achacha, suggest to the owner that you would like to buy it!

This season if you live in Queensland, NSW 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 quarantine restrictions.

Welcome to our upgraded website!  Those of you who have visited before will note a few subtle differences, but we hope we have been able to retain the fresh, vibrant air which many commented on when the website was first established a couple of years ago.  Please send us your comments – we look forward to hearing from you.

We invite you to take a ride over the Achacha plantation – go to About the Achacha, submenu The Plantation, or just click here. Earlier this year we had a camera team on site so we took advantage of a helicopter service located in the area and went for a spin.  The geometric layout sets the scene for some fascinating shots.

What you don’t see from the ‘copter are the Agile Wallabies (Macropus agilis) which frequent the area. These small animals don’t worry the trees, feeding off the grass. The property is fenced however, to keep out feral pigs which can create a huge mess overnight as they root around in the soil looking for grubs and other things to eat.

So far we have not had any major problems storing the Achacha – there just haven’t been enough of them to store!  But gradually as more trees come into production the supply will increase and you may wish to set some aside for a few days or weeks.

Last season we commissioned Primary Industries & Fisheries at DEEDI (ex DPI Queensland) to carry out a post-harvest shelf life study on the fruit. Their analyses show that the fruit is quite flexible and can be stored at a range of temperatures.  However the ideal temperature for storage is about 20°C. But temperature is only half the equation; the other half is humidity. By retaining moisture in the skin, the fruit takes weeks to dry out. So if you need to store your Achachas, they will last a long time if kept at about 20°C in a closed container – for example a bag or box. In recognition of this fact, we will be packing premium fruit in bags in their boxes this season.

Amazingly, shops find it hard to store fruit at 20°C, which is more or less the temperature we like to have in our homes – “room temperature”. Most fruit shops have a cool room – which is kept at about 4°C, like a domestic refrigerator. Most vegetables and some fruits like this temperature. But bananas and some other fruits, especially tropical fruits, prefer warmer conditions, so the better shops also have what is commonly referred to as a “banana room” which is kept at about  12°C. The Achacha however prefers even warmer climes, so now we are embarking on a campaign to ask shopkeepers to store the fruit at temperatures not lower than 14°C, and ideally at 20°C.

An hour or so in the refrigerator before you eat the fruit will give it an extremely fresh taste, and we recommend that you serve it pre-cooled. It will last for several days in the refrigerator so don’t feel obliged to move it around too much!