APAL announces 2018 award winners

APAL has announced the winners of its 2018 Awards for Excellence at Hort Connections 2018 with Victorian grower Gerard Alampi, Prima Fresh, taking Grower of the Year.

Nominations were submitted to the APAL Board for consideration with a number of high quality and impressive candidates being proposed.

Congratulations to all the winners and a special thanks to everyone who made the effort to nominate a colleague within the industry.

Winner list

Excellence Award: Dr Sally Bound, Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture

Sally is a well-known researcher and advocate of Australia’s fruit industries. She provides technical information and advice to orchardists and industry groups throughout Australia and regularly conducts workshops, seminars, orchard walks and training courses across the country to help industry members make the most of cutting-edge horticultural research. Sally has authored more than 70 articles for industry magazines and regularly contributes to apple, pear and cherry production guides. This award is new for 2018 and recognises Sally as an outstanding member of the industry.

Exporter of the Year: Montague, Victoria

Members of the Montague family: (lt to rt) Bill Montague, Scott Montague, Ray Montague, Tim Montague, Crystal Montague.

Montague is a family business that has been growing fruit for almost 70 years. They are passionate about their people, customer service and quality fresh produce, and have also achieved success in exports. They’re an industry leader, creating new market opportunities for pome and other fruit products.

Women in Horticulture: Susie Murphy White, Pomewest, WA

Susie has demonstrated an outstanding ability and success in her role as a Future Orchards® Front Line Advisor, Industry Project Manager for Pomewest and the go-to person for technical advice and assistance for WA growers. She is pro-active and shows commitment to achieving success in the industry which was demonstrated when she recently led a Young Growers Study Tour to New Zealand, three out of the nine participants were female which is testament to the work she is doing to mentor and encourage female growers.

Rising Star: Nathan Barolli, Barolli Orchards, Victoria

Nathan is a passionate third-generation orchardist working alongside his brother and parents. Their business has recently expanded to include pears, apples and plums grown for SPC; five orchards and two cool storage facilities in the Goulburn Valley; and another orchard and cool store in Batlow. In total, the orchards account for 350 acres and cool-stores of 12,000 bins. This award recognises Nathan as an up and coming industry leader who is achieving great things for our industry.

Grower of the Year: Gerard Alampi, Prima Fresh, Victoria

Gerard is a third-generation orchardist who started working in the family business from an early age. His vision is to offer a consistent, premium brand with a 12-month supply delivered through consolidation. Today, his brand Prima Fresh operates as an expanding broad-spectrum business with retail, market and export opportunities. This award recognises Gerard’s outstanding contribution across all aspects of fruit production including growing, environmental management, staff management and product quality.

Lifetime Achievement Award: David Williams, Department

of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, Victoria

David has constantly demonstrated excellence in the apple and pear industry and is well known in the research, development and extension space where he has over 40 years’ experience to orchard pest management. He currently leads the second phase of the PIPS Integrated Pest and Disease Management project where the codling moth parasitoid, Mastrus ridens, is to be released and evaluated in Qld, NSW, Vic, SA, and Tas.

Lifetime Achievement Award: Ray Montague, Montague, Victoria

Ray is an industry leader who is known for conducting business with integrity, dedication and distinction; he is a motivated and inspirational leader who is well respected by his team and the wider industry. He’s been described as having a lifelong love affair with apples and this passion has seen him travel to many parts of the globe in pursuit of apple perfection.

For more information:

Richelle Zealley

APAL

Email: rzealley@apal.org.au