Fresh Markets Australia (FMA) and the Central Markets Association of Australia (CMAA) are delighted to announce the 2022 A better choice!’ Retailer of the Year, People’s Choice Award Winners.

 ‘A better choice!’ is the first national program designed to encourage consumers to shop for fresh produce at their local independent fruit and vegetable retailers. The joint FMA and CMAA initiative supports more than 700 retailers across Australia.

 This year has been full of challenges for the Australian Fruit and Vegetable Industry, but the independent retailers with some good old-fashioned hard work, have dug deep and kept the fruit and vegetable supply chain going strong and provided the best produce Australia has to offer for their local communities. 

 The ‘A better choice!’ Retailer of the Year, People’s Choice Award is designed to highlight the stores that received the most nominations from their local community as their favourite store, in celebration of the quality, freshness and service provided at Aussie Independent fruit and veg shops. This year over 16,000 shoppers nominated 428 individual stores as their favourite fruit and veg shop. The event was hosted by Masterchef Winner Callum Hann.

 Callum Hann, ‘A better choice!’ Ambassador said “It’s great to see the industry come together to celebrate the hard work our retailers have done to continue to give people excellent quality fresh produce every day. The industry has been going through some pretty tough times over the last few years, and it’s great to give recognition to those that go above and beyond and stand out within the industry. I believe it’s important to support independent retailers because it’s good to know you’re supporting the little guys, and you’re always guaranteed exceptional service and great quality produce.”

 “This year, we are delighted to announce the winners from each state that participate in the national initiative, as well as the top three nationally, who demonstrated excellence within their industry and received the most nominations overall from their customers. This award recognises the efforts and significance of independent retailers nationwide. Many of which are owned and run by families who are a large part of the heart and soul of this industry and have been for generations. This award recognises the hard work and passion our retailers have for our industry, and demonstrates support for the ‘A better choice!’ initiative as it continues to grow for years to come.” said James Patrick, ‘A better choice!’ National Program Manager 

 

National and State Winners:

 

National and South Australia’s Winner of  Retailer of the Year is awarded to Adelaide Fresh Fruiterers, Morphett Vale. This is their second year winning the state and national awards.

 

Second place nationally and Queensland winner is awarded to Erbacher’s Fruit and Vegetables on the Sunshine Coast

 

Third Place nationally and the Victorian winner is awarded to Arnolds Fruit and Veg located in Wodonga. 

 

The state winner for New South Wales is awarded to Trims Fresh, Merrylands. 

 

The state winner for Western Australia is awarded to Spudshed, Midlands. 

 

The ‘A better choice!’ program recognises the enormous efforts over the last year of all the independent fruit and veg shops across Australia and encourages all Aussie shoppers to support the little guys and shop at their local fruit and veg shop.

 

Click here for National Video Announcement with Callum Hann, All State Images, videos and Interviews.

 

Winner Quotes:

Dino Labbozzetta from Adelaide Fresh Fruiterers Morphett Vale, SA said “ Firstly, thanks to the staff, without them we wouldn’t have made this happen and to the customers, it comes from the trust they put in us that we’ll have great quality and great service so I want to thank them very much. Thanks to everyone who participated, thanks to ‘A better choice!’, we wouldn’t be doing this without everyone.” 

 

Seb Galati from Spudshed, WA said “I’d just like to say thank you to everyone who participated in the voting, it’s great to get some recognition for us and our staff and all the hard work we put in here, and thanks again to our customers for supporting us. This award means a lot to us, Spudshed Midlands is a family business and we put in a lot of effort and work to make sure our stores are presentable and we put in a lot of work for our customers, and it’s great to get some recognition from our customers.” 

 

Joanne Khanafer from Trims Fresh, NSW said “It means so much to us to win this award, it means we’re keeping our customers happy and doing a good job. All our hard work has really paid off. We would just like to thank our staff, without them we wouldn’t be here, so thank you.”

 

Louise Arnold from Arnold’s Fruit Market, VIC said “It feels amazing to win this award, we’re fifth generation fruit market here in Wodonga, it’s so exciting. We come to work every day thinking about what can we do next and how we can engage and be relevant and this prize has said we’re doing everything right. I think we’re a favourite here in Wodonga because we’re a family and a lot of people can understand us, they know us in the community, or they knew our parents or our grandparents or our great grandparents. Our community is also our family and winning this award makes it all worth it. 

 

Angelina Campbell from Erbacher’s Fruit & Vegetables in QLD said, “ We’d like to say a big thank you to the community who nominated us, without you, there’s no us! We’re that old-school family-owned business so you get that family feel and good prices with friendly service. 

 

Media contacts: 

 

South Australia:

Penny Reidy

Marketing Communications and Business Development Manager

M 0408 877 797

E [email protected]

 

Queensland:

Eddie Alvarenga

Marketing and Program Executive

M 0457 486 280

E [email protected]

 

Victoria:

Zac Egan

State Program Coordinator – “A better choice!” 

M 0429 700 276

E [email protected]

 

New South Wales:

LINDI  SHULL

Program Assistant

M 0439 550 596

E [email protected]

 

Western Australia:

Inci Humberstone

Retailer Program Manager

M 0416 276 437

E [email protected]

 

National:

James Parick 

‘A better choice!’ National Program Manager

M 0425757777

E [email protected]

 

About ‘A better choice!’ 

‘A better choice!’ is the first national initiative designed to educate consumers about the quality, service and freshness of produce at their local fruit and vegetable shop. The program is a joint initiative under Fresh Markets Australia and The Central Markets Association of Australia. The program supports more than 700 fruit and veg business owners across Australia who supply 15% of the fresh produce sold each year. ‘A better choice!’ presents an opportunity for consumers to come together to help create a positive future for business owners, produce wholesalers and local growers who supply them.

 

About Fresh Markets Australia (FMA)

Fresh Markets Australia (FMA) is the national organisation representing each of the five Market Chambers, which themselves are organisations that represent the fruit and vegetable wholesalers located in each of Australia’s six central Markets (Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Newcastle).

 

About The Central Markets Association of Australia (CMAA) 

The Central Markets Association of Australia (CMAA) was formed in 2001 to provide a peak body for the five capital city wholesale central markets around Australia. Its members include the Adelaide Produce Market, Brisbane Markets, Perth Markets, the Melbourne Market and the Sydney Markets.

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