Buy Plantains Online in Australia

We are a plantain specialist based in Narangba, north of Brisbane. We buy horn plantains by the pallet from farms in the Wet Tropics of North Queensland, and we send them out green, by courier, to Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT and Victoria. If you live in one of those states, you can get Australian-grown plantains delivered to your door this week.

This page covers what we sell, how to choose between the varieties and sizes, and — honestly — where we can and cannot send them.

Where Australian plantains actually come from

Almost all commercially grown plantain in Australia comes out of the Wet Tropics belt in North Queensland, roughly between Innisfail and the Daintree. The climate there is close enough to West Africa and the Caribbean that horn plantains grow properly rather than sulking.

That matters because the alternative is imported frozen plantain, which is what most Australian shoppers end up with. Frozen is fine for some dishes and useless for others — you cannot make a decent tostone from a thawed plantain. Everything we sell is fresh and Australian-grown. We are not importing.

We buy direct from the growers rather than through a wholesaler, which is why we can sell a 12kg box for less than a supermarket charges per kilo for a single fruit.

Horn plantains, Pacific plantains and cooking bananas

These three get used interchangeably and they are not the same thing.

Horn plantains are the big ones — 30 to 35cm, angular, tapering to a point like a horn. They are the highest-starch variety and the one most West African, Caribbean and Latin American recipes assume. If a recipe says plantain and does not specify, this is almost always what it means. This is the bulk of what we sell.

Pacific plantains are shorter, straighter and slightly softer when cooked. They are the standard across Fiji, Samoa and Tonga and they are what you want for island cooking.

Cooking bananas are a different thing again — smaller, less starchy, and they will turn to mush if you treat them like a plantain. Some sellers list cooking bananas as plantains. We do not.

There is a fuller comparison on our blog: Horn Plantain vs Regular Plantain vs Banana.

Green or yellow — which one do you want?

This is the question people get wrong most often, and it decides whether your dish works.

Green plantains are firm and starchy, closer to a potato than a fruit. They hold their shape. Order green for tostones, patacones, fufu, boiled plantain, chips and anything savoury.

Yellow plantains have converted some of that starch to sugar. They caramelise. Order yellow for dodo, maduros, sweet fried plantain and anything where you want browning and sweetness.

You can buy green and ripen them at home — it takes about a week at room temperature, faster in a paper bag with an apple. Our guide to ripening plantains fast covers the methods that actually work.

One important constraint: we can only send green plantains by courier. Ripe and half-ripe fruit does not survive transit — it arrives bruised and it is not worth anyone's money. If you want yellow plantains and you are outside our Brisbane delivery zone, order green and ripen them yourself. It works, and it means you control the timing.

What size should you order?

Plantain keeps well in its green state, so people routinely buy more than they expect to.

• 1kg — two or three plantains. For a single meal, or to find out whether you like them before committing.
• 6kg — roughly 12 to 15 plantains. A fortnight of cooking for most households.
• 12kg — roughly 25 to 35 plantains. Best value per kilo. This is what families, restaurants, caterers and food trucks order.

The full range is in our horn plantain collection.

Where we can send plantains

We would rather be clear about this up front than take an order we cannot fill.

Courier — Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT and Victoria. Green plantains, chillies, shallots, ginger and dry goods travel by courier. Shipping is calculated at checkout from the weight of your order and your address. Orders go out Monday to Friday and usually land in one to four business days.

We do not ship to Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania or the Northern Territory. Transit times to those states run five to eight days, and fresh produce does not arrive in a state we would be willing to charge for.

Local delivery — Brisbane and surrounds, Wednesdays. If you are in Brisbane, Logan, Ipswich, Moreton Bay up to Caboolture, or one of the surrounding postcodes we cover, you get our own van run instead. That is the only way to get ripe plantains, leafy produce and eggs from us. Order any day of the week and your delivery lands the following Wednesday.

Wide Bay — monthly. We run to Bundaberg, Hervey Bay, Maryborough and Childers once a month. See the Wide Bay page.

Pickup — Narangba. By appointment from 35 McCullagh Crescent, usually ready within 24 hours subject to stock.

How to cook them

If you have never cooked plantain, start with fried — it is forgiving and it is how most people meet them. Our most-read recipe is African-style fried plantains (dodo), and there is a West African version with egg sauce from a Brisbane customer, Christiana Alexander.

For the nutrition side — plantains are high in resistant starch, potassium, vitamin C and B6 — see plantain nutrition facts and health benefits.

Questions we get asked

Can I buy plantains online in Australia?

Yes. We sell fresh Australian-grown horn plantains online and ship green plantains by courier to Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT and Victoria. Brisbane and surrounding postcodes get local delivery on Wednesdays instead. We do not ship to WA, SA, Tasmania or the NT.

Are your plantains grown in Australia or imported?

Grown in Australia. All our horn plantains come from farms in the Wet Tropics region of North Queensland. We do not import frozen plantain.

How long do plantains last?

Green plantains keep one to two weeks at room temperature and ripen slowly to yellow, then black. Do not refrigerate them while green — it stops the ripening and damages the texture. Once ripe, they can be peeled and frozen for up to three months.

Why are your boxes so large?

Because plantain keeps, and because buying a 12kg box direct from the farm is dramatically cheaper per kilo than buying single fruit at retail. If that is too much, start with the 1kg pack.

Do you supply restaurants and shops?

Yes. We supply restaurants, caterers, food trucks and grocers across South East Queensland, and we can arrange regular standing orders. Email dan@favu.com.au with what you need and how often.

What else do you sell?

Breadfruit, taro, cassava, yam, exotic and tropical fruit, Asian and Indian vegetables, fresh herbs by the bunch, and a serious range of chillies including Carolina Reaper and three habanero varieties. Chillies ship by courier on the same terms as green plantains.

Browse horn plantains or see everything available right now.