Johnny‘s Fruits and Veggies: New Bendigo supermarket brings flavours of Asia

Spices, flavours and treats from the far corners of the world are now available in the heart of Bendigo’s shopping district.

Yuejian ‘Johnny’ Xue outside his new Asian supermarket Johnny's Food Plus in Abbott Arcade, Bendigo. Picture: Contributed

Spices, flavours and treats from the across the world are now available in the heart of Bendigo’s shopping district.

Since 2011, Yuejian ‘Johnny’ Xue has been providing fresh fruit and vegetables to Bendigo families through his Lyttleton Terrace grocery store.

Mr Xue said the demand for Johnny‘s Fruits and Veggies exceeded what his small shop could provide with customers asking for overseas cuisines, particularly from Asia.

“Our shop is too small, we can’t stock too much in this small space,” Mr Xue said.

Mr Xue said the pandemic offered him a bittersweet opportunity, with neighbouring retail stores shutting their doors permanently.

“(The COVID lockdown) hurt certain retail quite a lot,” Mr Xue said.

“We were essential so we survived.”

Soon after the lockdowns hit a new space opened opposite Mr Xue’s shop when Bendigo Uniforms Plus closed its Abbott Arcade store.

For months Mr Xue said he used the retail space just for storage, but soon realised its commercial potential.

Last month Johnny’s Food Plus opened its doors allowing customers to try the flavours of Japan, Korea and across Asia in their own homes.

Mr Xue said the slow recovery of retail shopping had hampered the new store’s popularity.

“The whole street has been slow,” he said.

“We need traffic to pick up.”

But Mr Xue said the novelty of the new Asian supermarket was working.

“Food is always exciting to talk about … it’s all the gourmet from other countries,” he said.

“60 per cent (of customers) spend money, some come in and check to see what we have and they might come back.”

Mr Xue said even contacting suppliers was an exciting taste adventure, with toothfish, frozen oysters, Korean sliced barbecue meats and exotic drinks and snacks on offer.

“We’re trying them all as well,” he said.