ACCE$$ TO A$IA ASIAN VEGETABLES NEWSLETTER Issue No. 1, June 1995 (English Edition)

With this bimonthly newsletter we hope to keep growers, food processing businesses, exporters, and any other interested parties informed of developments in the Asian vegetable industry. We are interested in any information you have to contribute to this newsletter.

• ACCE$$ TO A$IA is a Victorian government funded initiative which aims to link growers, processors, exporters and importers of Asian vegetables for the domestic and export markets.

• Currently we are surveying the wholesale and retail outlets for Asian vegetables to determine quality, quantity and prices of existing products, and identify additional production and market opportunities.

• We are interested in identifying current and potential Asian vegetable growers. We would like to assist with any growing and marketing problems and through our diagnostic service identify any pest or disease problems.

TEAM MEMBERS OF ACCE$$ TO A$IA PROJECT

Melbourne: (03) 9210 9222 Dr Wendy Morgan (project leader) Mandy Chew

Myrtleford: (057) 311 222 Micheal Morgan John Niewenhaus Stephen Moore

Tatura: (058) 335 222 Bill Ashcroft Sandor Gurban Murat Top

Bairnsdale: (051) 520 600 Rob Dimsey Nick Barton

ASIAN VEGETABLES SEED SOURCES

Fairbanks Selected Seed Rijk Zwann Henderson Seed S & G Seeds South Pacific Seeds Arthur Yates Golden Harvest Farm Supplies

Paul Heseltine John Pardew Bruno Tigani Richard Tuttleby Richard Knowles Geoff Billing Stephen Ng

(03) 9689 4500 (053) 485 528 (03) 9850 2266 (03) 9706 3033 (03) 9888 1935 (008) 224 428 (02) 746 3551

DOMESTIC SCENE - Retail and Wholesale Outlets

• A survey of Asian vegetable retail prices has been in progress for the past 3 months.
• About 60 different Asian vegetables are currently grown in Victoria. They include members of the onion family, brassica family, herbs and a number of leafy vegetables.
• The majority of these vegetables are either of Chinese or Vietnamese origin.
• Asian vegetables are relatively cheap and retail prices have not fluctuated much over the summer season.
• A survey of Asian vegetable prices in the wholesale market has just started.
• In the next and following newsletters, wholesale and retail prices for some Asian vegetables will be included.

EXPORT SCENE
There appears to be export opportunities for Asian vegetables in the onion family, spinach, cherry radish, and Chinese cabbage. The Asian Pacific region buys 69% of Australia's total fresh fruit and vegetable exports. In 1993/94, Australia exported fresh onions worth $31,874,000; garlic worth $235,000; and leeks worth $1,118,000. Over the same period, Australia exported $6,241,000 of Chinese cabbage to Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan.
(Note that the export indicators are F.O.B .)

Please note that the above figures would include vegetables, nuts, and fruits.

CURRENT RESEARCH

Myrtleford:	Onion family, Broccoi, Cauliflower
Tatura:	Japanese pumpkin, Green soyabean
Bairnsdale:	Chinese cabbage, Green soyabean, Baby sweet corn

There will be more information on some of these projects in the next newsletter.

NEWS ITEMS
If you are an Asian vegetable grower and interested in being interviewed by the media, please let us know as we have the media asking to interview Asian vegetable growers from time to time.

This newsletter is also available in Vietnamese. Should there be a need for other translations as well, please do not hesitate to let us know.

A list of Asian vegetables that have been identified in the Melbourne retail outlets is available. If you are interested in getting the list, please send a self-addressed envelope to the editors.