IT isn't often a crowd is queueing up for a serve of vegetables.
That all changes though when there's a barista involved.
The much hyped "broccoli latte" was on display and available to be tasted at Hort Connections 2018 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre last week.
The Hort Innovation stand within the trade display hosted a barista and required equipment to produce the vegetable and caffeine treat, serving up some 350 cups of (greenish) Joe over the course of a few hours.
At one stage a line of some 50 people stood in front of the stand. Such was the demand that organisers served up a second round the following day.
The product, developed by Hort Innovation and national science agency, CSIRO, packs a healthy punch with about one serve of broccoli in every two tablespoons of powder.
Broccoli grower and managing director of Fresh Select, John Said, was on hand to help give details about the innovation.
He said the product had already raised a lot of interest about the possibilities for growers and the supply chain.
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"I think it's the excitement and the euphoria around putting broccoli in coffee in the form of powder," Mr Said said.
"More importantly it's an alternative market. It's creating, I believe, another food trend and possibly another industry."
Fresh Select became involved after seeing the CSIRO's work and Hort Innovation's participation.
"I am an early adopter and I liked what they were doing and where it was going and it fitted our brief around diversification and innovation and trying to create a different market and so on, so I just took the opportunity to get deeper involved," he said.
"Today we are talking about the next generation of products and where to from here."
Mr Said's personal preference is for an expresso, and while such as thing wasn't being served up on the day, it certainly wouldn't be out of reach.
"If you think about food waste and a vegetable powder as a substitute ingredient in the food space, it's endless where we can go with this," Mr Said said.
"And more importantly we are just getting more people eating more vegetables - that's it in a nutshell.”
Ashley Walmsley
Ashley Walmsley is the editor of ACM's only national, fresh produce magazine, Good Fruit & Vegetables, while also covering horticulture stories for the agricultural papers and websites. He also writes the weekly, The Ringer, column in the Qld Country Life.
Ashley Walmsley is the editor of ACM's only national, fresh produce magazine, Good Fruit & Vegetables, while also covering horticulture stories for the agricultural papers and websites. He also writes the weekly, The Ringer, column in the Qld Country Life.
