AU: A king’s ransom for a tray of mangoes
The new Mango Kings bought the symbolic first tray of mangoes with a hugely generous bid of $42,000, with the funds donated to Diabetes Queensland and Life Education Queensland.
On stage with the smiling greengrocers, Mr Lorenti in a cape and Mr Nicolaou in a crown, Mr Lorenti said, “It's been harder than normal in retailing, so together we thought up a way to come up with the money that wasn't going to put too much of a hole in our pockets but still help two great causes.”
Also announced at the early morning event in Rocklea was Clayfield Markets Fresh as 'South East Queensland’s Kindest Greengrocer', the top shop in the AOK (Act of Kindness) in-store fundraising campaign.
It raised $2,270 towards a total of $10,100 for both charities across all 34 participating stores. Mr Nicolaou’s store, Fresh Sensations Carindale, was hot on its heels and in second place.
More than $68,500 was raised by the Brisbane Markets community in total.
“It's a great effort from all our customers; we really pushed it this year knowing it would help one of our own,” Mr Lorenti said.
Since 2002, Brisbane Markets Limited has raised more than $770,000 for Queensland charities by staging the annual event.
The tray of mangoes from this year’s auction was donated by Arnhem Packhouse in the Northern Territory.
For more information:
Vanessa Kennedy
Brisbane Markets Ltd
Tel: +66 (07) 3915 4258
Mobile: +66 0438 388 111
Email: [email protected]