Melons Australia in Fresh Plaza

In Australia in excess of 8,000 hectares have been planted with melons and in 2022/23, the Australian melon industry produced roughly 226,022 tonnes of melon, valued at approx. $250mil – this is across Watermelons, Rockmelons, Honeydew, and other specialty lines such as Piel de sapo, Candy melons, Dino melons and many more.

"We are extremely lucky in Australia to grow across the country, in all States and Territories except Tasmania and the ACT. This wide-reaching approach to production allows for 12 months of the year production," explains Johnathon Davey, CEO at Melons Australia.

Melon growers and researches have been working hard over the past few years to develop new varieties and improve current melon varieties for consumers, just some of the things developed include:

• Shelf life of melons, ensuring melons don't sour too quickly once on the shelf of grocers
• Melons skin colour indicators of maturity to ensure melons are picked at the right time to then be processed and on the shelf ripe for consumers
• Development of the new musk melon varieties including the popular Candy melon
• Increased production of smaller personal melons for those that want a whole melon but aren't able to get through a traditional sized melon

"Domestic demand for Australian melons is extremely strong, with only 8% of our production going offshore. Therefore 100% of melons consumed in Australia are grown right here in Australia. We have a strategy increase the volume of melons exported in the coming years. We are currently looking at growth opportunities to open new markets such as South Korea, India and Vietnam."

At the moment the main export markets are New Zealand, Japan, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.