Blog post written by Craig Johns, Associate Director Agribusiness Innovation, GFAR

Theo Simos , Craig Johns of GFAR and Florence Rahiria, ACIAR PNG Regional Manager

Craig Johns and Theo Simos at the Galip Nut launch event

It is not every day you get to launch a new food product, particularly when it is the culmination of years of research and strong multidisciplinary collaboration across two countries. Well, this is what just happened in Papua New Guinea last week.

Centre for Global Food and Resources (GFAR) researchers Craig Johns and Theo Simos were in Papua New Guinea last week to attend the commercial launch of the Galip Nut. The Galip Nut is an indigenous nut, which has strong traditional connections to the country, and has been used as a shade tree within agroforestry systems for cocoa production. While the nut has been traded between villages and through municipal markets for many decades, this is the first time the nut has been commercially processed for a modern retail market. Theo Simos from GFAR has been instrumental in getting this product to market.

The commercialisation of this indigenous nut has been the result of an Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)  funded project titled ‘Enhancing value added products and environmental benefits from agroforestry systems in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific. The three new Galip products; Natural, Roasted and Peeled will be on sale in leading East New Britain supermarkets and hotels this week, with a further launch and expanded distribution planned for Port Moresby by the middle of the year.

To read more about the project and the involvement of GFAR visit https://www.adelaide.edu.au/global-food/research/international-development/png-canarium-nut/