Less Than Two Years, This Food Truck Selling Fried Rice To Mixed Rice Is In The Top Three In Australia

Australians queue for Nani's Food Truck service. (Source: Consulate General in Sydney)

JAKARTA - For the people of Indonesia, buying shrimp paste fried rice in restaurants or at roadside stalls may be commonplace. But what about Indonesian food in our neighboring country, Australia?

Who would have thought that Indonesian food in this kangaroo country can actually be found not only in big cities but also in tourist coastal cities, such as Sevenmile Beach, Gerroa. This coastal city is about 2 hours from Sydney and only has a population of around 700 people, this city is a tourist destination for local residents, especially during the year-end holiday season.

At the end of 2021, as part of the Indonesia Spice Up the World program, the Indonesian Consulate General in Sydney together with an importer of Indonesian processed food in Australia, Eastern Cross Trading visited the Nani's Food Truck food truck, which is owned by an Indonesian diaspora, Nani.

Ms. Nani is familiarly called, a woman who has lived in Australia since 2005 starting her business in the food truck world in 2019, starting from her love for Indonesian culinary and products.

In less than two years, his food truck business was chosen as the 'Top Three Best Food Truck' in Wollongong City, Australia according to the Three Best Rated website, based on high customer ratings and testimonials. Various Indonesian foods are sold such as fried rice, fried noodles, fried spring rolls, rendang, and mixed rice

"The food truck business is full of hard work, but the results are very rewarding," he said in a statement at the Indonesian Consulate General in Sydney, January 7.

He further explained that the food truck business licensing process in Australia only took two months. However, the process of designing the vehicle to become a food truck takes up to seven months. Because the design is special, showing off batik created by original artists from Yogyakarta.

Interestingly, Nani's food truck is always crowded with consumers, including Australians who are willing to queue even though they have to be patient because the queues are often quite long.

Nani's Food Truck. (Source: Consulate General in Sydney)

For example, Steven, an employee of the Australian airline Qantas who faithfully follows this truck wherever it is. The trick, he always follows Nani's Food Truck's social media uploads to find out the next sale location. Understandably, he is one of Indonesia's culinary lovers.

"I really like Padang food, especially beef jerky and balado," said the man who really wanted to visit the beauty of Padar Island in Labuan Bajo, NTT about his favorite food.

Meanwhile, to continue to increase the knowledge and interest of Australians at the Nani's Food Truck location currently in Indonesian tourism and culinary arts, the Indonesian Consulate General in Sydney introduced tourist destinations and Indonesian national food to visitors by distributing goodie bags containing brochures for tourist destinations in Labuan Bajo, Bali, Borobudur, and Joglosemar, as well as ready-to-use spices to make rendang and fried rice, coconut milk and coconut water, to gado-gado seasoning.

"All of these products are quality products, especially the coconut milk. I always use Indonesian coconut milk in my cooking," said chef Paul, who also received this gift.

In addition, the Indonesian Consulate General in Sydney also promoted Indonesian restaurants in Australia by distributing new year cards, containing a list of Indonesian product stores in Australia and a QR Code link containing a list of restaurant recommendations, along with social media accounts for Indonesian restaurants that are members of the Indonesia Restaurant Association Sydney.

"This visit to a food truck belonging to the Indonesian diaspora is intended as a form of support for Indonesian restaurant businesses in Australia and the promotion of Indonesian cuisine, as well as encouraging more Australian tourists to do culinary tourism in Indonesia, as well as supporting the Indonesian government's program in promoting quality tourism. It is hoped that it can increase exports of Indonesian spices to Australia, as part of efforts to support the #indonesiaspiceuptheworld program which was officially launched by the Indonesian government at Dubai Expo 2020," explained the Consulate General in Sydney.