August 4 2009

Western Australia's brightest and best fresh fruit and vegetable retailers received their just rewards last week at the 2009 WA Fresh Produce Retailer of the Year Awards.

Yet again The Herdsman in Churchlands, Scutti A Taste of Europe and Gwelup Fruits and More were the big winners, with all three making a habit of winning awards for excellence in fresh fruit and vegetable retailing.

The Herdsman took out the Open Section of the WA Fresh Produce Retailer of the Year Award, the second year in a row it's won the award, which it also won in 2005.

South Perth's Scutti A Taste of Europe similarly took out the award for Best Small Store for the second successive year, proving that small really is beautiful.

Geraldton Fruit & Vegetable Supply tasted success twice, winning the Excellence in Apple and Pear Retailing and the Best Regional Fresh Produce Retailer awards.

The mid-west store is no stranger to the awards, either, picking up the Open Section of the award in 2004.

The Chamber of Fruit and Vegetable Industries in WA (CFVIWA) started the awards in 2002 to recognise and reward fresh produce retailers demonstrating excellent customer service and retailing standards.

This year's awards were presented at the 2009 Market City Ball at the Burswood Entertainment Complex on Friday, July 24 and hosted by the CFVIWA and the Perth Market Authority (PMA).

With 75 entrants from the South West to Geraldton, all award categories were very hotly contested, said CFVIWA Chief Executive Officer, Robert McFerran.

"We appreciated great involvement from supermarkets, independent retailers and weekend markets and we received some excellent feedback about the process, which is a good sign for the future of the awards", Mr McFerran said.

"The awards are all about creating healthy competition among fruit and vegetable retailers and encouraging them to innovate and further raise the standard of fruit and vegetable retailing.

"The awards give due recognition to those retailers setting the highest standards, with the judges remarking on the exceptional standards of this year's entries and how much they had improved on last year's already high standards.

"It made the judges' task very difficult and separating the finalists in some categories came down to very small differences in the judging criteria in order to split them.

"Feedback we received from the contestants was that the Awards were a very valuable way for them to focus on raising the standards of fruit and vegetable retailing", Mr McFerran said.

CFVIWA represents fresh produce wholesalers and other associated members at Market City, Canning Vale, to ensure a profitable and sustainable industry through its representative and promotional activities.

PMA operates Market City where about $400 million worth of fresh produce is sold and transferred through the central trading area every year.

2009 WA Fresh Produce Retailer of the Year award winners:

• 2009 WA Fresh Produce Retailer of the Year Award: The Herdsman
• 2009 Best Fresh Produce Section within a Supermarket: Coles Claremont
• 2009 Best Regional Fresh Produce Retailer: Geraldton Fruit & Vegetable Supply
• 2009 Best Small Store: Scutti A Taste of Europe
• 2009 Best Weekend Market Retailer: TAL Distribution
• 2009 Excellence in Banana Retailing: Progressive IGA Belmont
• 2009 Excellence in Apple and Pear Retailing: Geraldton Fruit & Vegetable Supply
• 2009 Excellence in Potato Retailing: Gwelup Fruits & More
• 2009 Outstanding Promotion of Fresh Produce in WA: Woolworths Fresh Market Update & Fresh Food Kids

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