Native Australian Finger Limes have become the trending flavour, gaining popularity with chefs all over the country.
Beneath the outer surface of the Finger Lime, awaits the delicate popping citrus pearls that resemble the look of caviar. With a fresh and zesty aroma, accompanied by a slight tart and bitterness, they’re a versatile option that can be combined in either a sweet or savoury dish.
The main season runs from December through to June. It’s at the start of the season you will find champagne coloured Finger Limes frolicking amongst the trees, with the shift in season transforming them to a deep red. The colour of the pearls within the skin will vary between the two or can be one or the other.
We spoke with Jade King, founder of Green Valley Finger Limes – a farm located on the Sunshine Coast in the Green House region, who gave us an insight into her world. Humble and passionate owners Jade and Neville began their journey five years ago with 350 trees, which quickly grew to 1,200. A world of knowledge behind them combined with their admirable motivation and grit, they’ve been able to master the flavour and quality of the Champagne Red variety.
Albeit rewarding, picking finger limes isn’t easy “We fully suit up and it’s tough work out there.” Says Jade. “I’ve only just come in now from a harvest! Some backpackers just never come back.” Jade laughs. Finger Limes tend to play hard to get (wink, wink) and working through the conditions of the Australian sun, thorny trees and the occasional wasp nest, proves this work is not for the faint of heart.
Suncoast Fresh‘s ability to supply far and wide provides an invaluable opportunity for farms like Jade’s that enables direct access to Chefs from Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Byron Bay and Toowoomba. The connection from the farm to the table is something Suncoast Fresh appreciates, as does Jade: “I really do value Suncoast Fresh because at the end of the day, it is really great to see that chefs value our product and know about it and Graeme provides that link for us.”
“Our loyalty lies with Suncoast Fresh”
The team at Green Valley Finger Limes put the hard work in to produce the absolute best. With the booming popularity, they’re currently sending produce all across the country, on top of this, Finger Limes have gone global and they’re now exporting to Singapore, China, Hong Kong and Macau with recent enquiries to export their citrus caviar to Spain and Italy – this flavour is only set to get bigger.
“We need to focus on producing the absolute best product and Suncoast Fresh help provide that opportunity because we just don’t have time to be promoting, selling and delivering the product.” Says Jade. We know at Suncoast Fresh that Teamwork really does makes the dream work and by closely working with our local farmers, we truly do have the ability to provide the highest quality fresh produce in the business.
