An Australian garlic farmer has prompted consumers to buy locally grown garlic and to leave the imported product behind as most of the local product goes to waste even though it is superior in quality.
Russell Zahnow started-out growing one acre of garlic six years ago on his property near Mundubbera in Queensland's Wide Bay-Burnett region.
He planted 20 acres this year, but said he was forced to look at optional export markets because the imported, cheap garlic was his biggest challenger.
According to the Australian Garlic Producers group, 95 per cent of Australia's garlic is imported from China and is often sprayed with chemicals that are banned in Australia.
Mr Zahnow said the imported product was often bleached and had to be treated to prevent potential bacteria coming into the country.
Chair of the Australian Garlic Industry Association Letetia Ware said Australia had a very high standard of a clean commercial production not reflected in the imported product.
Most countries that import garlic have different standards of chemical controls and checks.
Mr Zahnow said it was sad to see local, high-quality product go to waste.
"There is a big revolving door of growers and it's a shame because we can grow good Australian garlic. But we are not getting a fair deal, I suppose," he said.
"Growers can't sell their product and it gets dumped, believe it or not, and many then leave the industry.
Australian garlic industry challenges
A still-prevalent challenge for growers comes from the collapse of the industry in the 1990s when bulbs from China where imported at a price cheaper than local growers could compete with.
Ms Ware said it was difficult for the industry to recover and growers had to start from scratch.
"Back then we not only lost the experienced growers but also government support and the investment in research and development," she said.
Ms Ware said at present, the Australian industry was not able to produce garlic all year around and could not satisfy the Australian demand.
The association's focus has been to get farmers to grow different varieties around Australia so local high-quality garlic was available all year and could compete in terms of availability with the imported product.
Support for the local product needed
Mr Zahnow said more consumer awareness and understanding would not just help the industry grow and not waste their product, but also allow people eat a better and healthier garlic.
"What you pay for you are actually getting back in the quality of the product that you are eating," he said.
"I think there also needs to be more awareness in the restaurant industry.
Ms Ware said many consumers were not aware of the different garlics that were coming throughout the season and what they were — especially in a culinary sense.
"Queensland, for example, has a very unique garlic. It's a subtropical garlic, grown in a warm climate and daylight neutral. Whereas most garlic around the world is actually a temperate climate garlic that requires a cold winter," she said.
Mr Zahnow said he hoped the industry would stabilise and local growers could sell most of their product to Australian consumers.
