By KATIE DE VERTEUIL
Three of Noosa’s favourite fresh fruit and vegetable retailers have joined 18 sunshine coast businesses in Queensland’s latest campaign to support local farmers.
The campaign entitled Hand Picked was created by Brisbane Produce Market and is divided into two elements – the branding of Your Local Fruit Shop in participating stores and advertising through radio, billboards, print and television.
Along with those of the coast, almost 100 south-east Queensland independent greengrocers have banded together to launch a new public campaign.
Brisbane markets CEO Andrew Young said the burgeoning clean-living movement, along with the recent frozen berry scare, had prompted shoppers to get serious about knowing the origin of their fresh fruit and vegetables.
“The Hand Picked campaign is about highlighting the industry experience and personal service provided by your local fruit shop, and the origin of the high quality produce they sell,” Mr Young said.
“Shoppers can indentify retailers participating in the Hand Picked campaign by looking for new Your Local Fruit Shop signage in almost 100 locations around south-east Queensland.
Lloyd Pardon of Pardons Fruit Market, Noosa Heads, said participating in the campaign was more about solidarity with the other local shops than increasing trade.
“We’ve already got a steady flow of customers, maybe even too many,” Lloyd laughed.
“But it is still important to let people know what we are all about and that when they come to us they are supporting their local farmers.”
Owner of Tewantin Plaza Fruit Centre, Julian Pitts (‘Pittsy’) has also been supporting local farmers for years.
“I think Hand Picked is a really good initiative as it allows people who are more business savvy to help with marketing small independent retailers.
“Supermarkets have the resources to saturate buyers with advertising while we are run off our feet most of the time, so it is good to be able to put the marketing side of things in someone else’s hands.”
While Julian sees Noosa as a community that strongly supports local business, he believes that people in general are becoming lazy when it comes to food.
“Supermarkets are convenient,” Julian said.
“But I think that the majority of people in Noosa are spot on when it comes to supporting their own by buying local.
Lloyd agreed.
“I think that people are definitely becoming more aware of what they are eating and that supermarkets are not always the best quality food or even the cheapest,” Lloyd said.
“When you buy local it lasts longer because it is fresher and it tastes better.
“Supermarkets may be about convenience but we are about customer service and quality products.
“We try and make shopping a pleasurable experience.”
Julian said that Noosa’s aging population may also have something to do with this.
“There are a lot of retirees in Noosa and most would have grown up in a time where you were taught to go to the butchers, bakers, grocers for your different needs, so they have kept that up rather than buying everything in one place at supermarkets.”
Proudly 100 per cent Australian grown fruit and vegetables, Noosaville’s Maluka Produce has also signed up to the campaign.
Owner of the business for the past four years Luke Nuske said the recent change to only sell Australian produce had been a gradual progression and is something that he and his staff are extremely proud of.
“Each season brings an abundance of different fruit and vegetable varieties and Noosa and the Sunshine Coast has so much to offer,” Luke said.
Luke sees the Hand Picked campaign as a great way to unite independent grocers and increase community awareness of the richness of produce available locally, all year round.
