Saad started Byblos Market at Burnside Hub six years ago. He arrived in Australia from Lebanon in the early 2000s.

Today he continues to run the store, employing his 19 year old son and other staff to service the increasing numbers of customers coming in to get their groceries.

Mandarins, oranges and apples are currently in season, sourced from Melbourne Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Market in Epping.

Saad also recommends jujubes, a little-known fruit in Australia that, like Byblos Market, takes its name from the Greek language.>

“Like a red date, they’re new in the market and some of our European customers, they know – when they see them, they love them,” Saad said.

The Market is named after the Lebanese city Byblos, perched on a sandstone cliff about 40 km North of the capital Beirut by car.

Byblos was settled in the Neolithic era, around 10,000 years ago, when humans began to use agricultural techniques.

The city is said to have been originally founded by fishermen and remains one of the oldest continuously inhabited towns in the world.