One of Queensland's leading Avocado and Mango producers Simpson Farms says its strategy to focus on the end customer was what helped it take the Woolworths Fruit Supplier of the year award for 2017.
The company won the award, after working closely with the supermarket giant for a number of years.
"We are excited to be presented with the Woolworths Fruit supplier of 2017 award and appreciate the recognition of our effort," Director John Walsh said. "We have a focus on the end user, the supermarket customer. It’s not just a matter of satisfying Woolworths expectations, we concentrate on what ends up on the consumers plate and supply only the highest quality fruit that is ready to eat."
Woolworths Head of Produce, Paul Turner says the company beat a hotly-contested field to win the award, but were deserved winners.
"Simpson Farms have been supplying Woolworths with quality avocados for 21 years," he said. "Through this partnership they have worked with us to be an integral part of business by investing in new technologies and working closely with our teams to build customer knowledge. We look forward to working with Simpson Farms in 2018 and continuing to deliver quality avocados at great value for our customers."
Simpson Farms is currently in between the harvest of its different mango varieties and so far it has followed the national trend and been a strong year so far.
"Having finished our next Kensington Pride harvest in Bundaberg we look forward to our next available supply," Mr Walsh said. "This fruit comes from the Mildura area, being a cooler climate it spends longer on the tree and as a result is sweeter than you can imagine. This fruit will be harvested in February. We are currently harvesting Calypso mango and will start to harvest Honey Gold in two weeks."
Mr Walsh says the produce company has also increased avocado production on its own properties due to investing in new land and the regeneration of existing blocks within the current orchards.
"Our volume is increasing in line with consumer demand as a result of this and the outside growers that we partner with in Northern Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia," he said. "We are continually investing in people, plant and machinery to improve the outcome for both fresh avocado and mangoes. April this year will mark 12 months since we have moved into our new processing facility. This new facility has allowed us to increase production of our value added avocado products using HPP technology."
For more information:John Walsh
Simpson Farms
Phone: +61 7 4126 8200