Native Foods

The native food industry is very diverse, covers a wide range of indigenous plants and includes wild harvest as well as commercial cultivation.

Native foods covered by the RIRDC sub-program include, but are not limited to, lemon myrtle (leaf and oil), bush tomato, wattle seed, mountain pepper (leaf and berry), quandong, native limes, riberry, lemon aspen, muntries, anise myrtle leaf, Kakadu plum and Davidson's plum.

Wild harvest covers the breadth of the country from wild harvest of Kakadu plums in the north to bush tomatoes and wattle seed in the arid interior and mountain pepper in Tasmania. Cultivation of Australian native flora is growing rapidly, again with considerable geographic diversity, from rainforest fruits in the north east of Australia to muntries, a berry, in Victoria.

The industry includes indigenous people who are involved in bush harvest and cultivation, and the rights over traditional uses are respected. The industry is united in bringing a uniquely Australian flavour experience to all consumers and in doing so creating profitable enterprises in regional Australia.

The Native Foods sub-program has developed within RIRDC's New Plants Program. RIRDC has provided $1.65 million to 33 projects since the sub-program began in 1998, with contributions from research organisations and the industry bringing the total investment to $3.97 million. A wide range of topics have been supported, including support for the development of the industry peak body, with the majority of funding going to addressing production constraints and exploring novel uses to grow the markets for Australian native foods.

The industry is represented by the peak body, Australian Native Food Industry Limited.