With the Australian Summer of 2016 being labelled as ‘the time of the great avocado shortage’, Dave Nelson, Manager of Coastal Avocados, is all sorted.
Passionate about the quality of the fruit they grow and sell, Coastal Avocados saw the potential for their own operations, and the wider avocado industry, to use technology that will guarantee top grade fruit, every time.
Supplying to one of Australia’s major retailers Woolworths for the past 10 years and to Costa Group, Australia’s largest marketer of fresh fruit and vegetables, Coastal Avocados selected the software ‘Greenlight Quality Control’ from Muddy Boots Software to keep them ahead during the avocado boom in Australia.
Located at Fisherman’s Reach in Northern NSW, Coastal Avocados have their own avocado farms along with a large grower base throughout the state.
Dave explains how the Greenlight QC program helps make sure the avocados he sends direct to Woolworths and other customers are always within specification, ‘The technology available through Greenlight QC allows us to actively manage the quality of the avocados we supply. In addition to final product assessments, one of the ways we use the software is to constantly monitor any defects in the fruit we receive from our growers. Any fruit that is classed at a lower than premium grading is assessed for defect type and we pass this information on to our grower team immediately to help them make the best orchard management decisions. Before we got Muddy Boots this was a manual process, hand-written on an A4 piece of paper without the ability to track results and see trends over time. Now we can send this information instantly using a mobile device and even provide our growers with monthly and seasonal reports using data we have collected. All of this boils down to us knowing we can trust the supply chain we have, and our retailers and wholesalers can consistently trust the product they receive from us.’
The majority of fruit produced by Coastal Avocados grower group is now approaching 90% Premium Grade. This allows Coastal Avocados to boast zero rejections for fruit quality, stronger relationships with their growers and strengthened trust with their retailers.
‘During a boom, sometimes people can become relaxed about quality because they know they can sell an inconsistent product due to demand. At Coastal Avocados we know that by having a quality control system in our supply chain the high standard of fruit we deliver will be maintained at all times and our growers will have secure market for their fruit now and in the future.’
For more information:
Coastal Avocados
Tracey Kelly-Jenkins
Sales & Marketing Coordinator
Muddy Boots