Enjoying Australia's Summer Fruits in Jakarta

As part of the campaign “Now! In Season”, which runs until June, the Victoria State Government held a media gathering at Culinaria Modena Experience in March to introduce Australia’s summer fruits to a wider audience in Indonesia.

During the event, Commissioner Victoria Government for Southeast Asia Brett Stevens, Assistant Minister for Deputy Prime Minister Australia Luke Hartsuyker and Indonesian chef Yuda Bustara showcased the aforementioned Australian summer fruits as well as cherries, grapes, apples and pears, that are now available at several outlets throughout the city: Ranch Market, Foodhall, Kemchicks Pacific Place, Transmart, and Lotte Mart.

Chef Yuda put on a cooking demonstration to show guests how to use the summer fruits for two delicious dishes and making the best of their health benefits: Sirloin with Chimichuri, that combines the high protein of Australian sirloin with the refreshing vitamins of necatarines, and a Pavlova with Plum Sauce as dessert.

“Victoria uses a sophisticated and well-protected horticultural system, and therefore the crop always has a good quality,” Chef Yuda said. “And because of the proximity from Victoria to Jakarta, we can be sure that the summer fruits will still be fresh once they arrive here.”

Brett Stevens added that the quality and freshness of the fruits was their main selling point.

“From the side of the Victoria Government, we will only provide our best local produce,” he said. “We want to introduce our best local fruits to Indonesia, in order to help Indonesians to maintain a healthy lifestyle and prevent illness and disease. Therefore, we are bringing our local fruits that are fresh, sweet and of high quality to Indonesia.”

Luke Hartsuyker concurred, saying that he could already see the positive side of exporting fresh fruits from Australia to Indonesia.

“It is very interesting to me to see how Indonesians become more and more aware of a healthy lifestyle,” he explained. “We hope that the existing export regulations will continue to support us, in order to give Indonesians access to our fruits.”