I
In the age of superfoods – when
so many foods have claim to fame- some of our healthiest fruits are
quietly thriving without any hoo-
ha. Oranges (that go-to sporting
field thirst-quencher), mandarins,
lemons and limes have had a
revival – and our citrus industry
is reaping the rewards. Ben Cant,
a third-generation farmer at Impi
Citrus, South Australia, says
oranges have had a renaissance
the last couple of years. “They
were really getting beaten (in
popularity) by mandarins big time
and they’ve made a comeback,”
Cant says.
In terms of domestic
consumption, Cant says oranges
are on par with mandarins,
with the two fighting it out
in the popularity stakes every
season. “We do grow, by general
consensus, the best oranges in the
world in Australia,” Cant says,
“and so I think Aussie consumers
are recognising that. They’ve kind
of got over the fad of easy-peel,
convenience mandarins and going,
‘You know what? You just can’t
beat a slice of orange at half-time
in the footy.’”
Other citrus fruit is going
gangbusters, too, with lemons back
in the shopping basket. “Lemon
sales in the last three years have
increased significantly and the
retailers are extremely happy,”
says Cant.
One reason for this is the
smashed avo craze and the re-
emergence of guacamole as a
healthy snack.
Harvest to home
The main citrus season in
Australia is from winter through
to summer. Navel oranges, for
example, are in season from
June to October, while Valencias
are available November to
February. Australian consumers
are fortunate to have five
farming hotspots spread across
the country: the Burnett in
Qld, the Riverina in NSW, theRiverland in SA, Sunraysia in
Victoria and Moora, WA.
When it comes to getting
citrus from orchard to plate, it’s
labour intensive. The oranges,
mandarins, grapefruit and lemons
grown at Impi Citrus, in the
Riverland, are picked by hand.
The farm, which was started in
the 1960s by Cant’s grandfather,
employs backpackers to help at
harvest time. These travellers
twist, snap and clip the fruit off
the branches, collect them into
a canvas bag and transport them
to a number of crates throughout
the orchard. Machines aren’t used
because they bruise the fruit.
Once the fruit is harvested, it is
transported by truck into the Impi
Citrus packing facility and from
there the citrus is sorted. Split,
damaged or badly blemished fruit
is removed.The fruit is then washed,
treated with fungicide to prevent
mould, and then a plant-based
wax is applied to restore moisture
into the skin and make them look
good. The next step is a quick dry
to seal the wax and they’re put
through a sorting machine that
determines the size, weight and
grade of the piece of fruit. “So
from there we can segregate the
perfect pieces of fruit, the not-so-
perfect and then the butt ugly,”
Cant says.
Generally the highest quality
pieces are likely exported to China
where customers pay big money,
the mid-range fruit (some of
which may have small blemishes)
might go into a bag that’s sold at
a supermarket. Then the not-so-
pretty pieces will often go to a juice
company. There are predominantly
three grades: premium export,