Seasons Greetings
All the team at Pershouse Produce would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Xmas and Prosperous New Year.

In this edition....
Wow! What a bumper Christmas crop! The markets are absolutely overflowing with quality produce and at Pershouse Produce, we’ve all been busy working with our customers to keep up with the demand, which will now start to peak with Christmas upon us.
And talking with many of you, we appreciate that you are also ‘flat out’, with the prime growing season for many crops hitting their climax.
But while it is important to keep the sleeves rolled up during this busy time of year, it is also a good time to take stock of some of our achievements in what has been a tough year for most growers.
The drought has certainly presented us all with some challenges and many growers have had to further refine their water usage and crop planning. For some farms this has been a bigger hurdle to overcome than others, but for all, these water management plans are an important step towards longer term sustainability.
Even at market level, we too have had to change the way we use this valuable resource and continue to improve our water management systems.
Like everyone else, our hope for the New Year is productive rain!
Christmas is also a time of year when it is also important to remember those who are less fortunate than us. Pershouse Produce is a keen contributor to a number of charities.
This year, Pershouse sponsored a team in the XXXX Gold Variety Beef n’ Beaches Bash. We have featured an article about the Bash in this issue of Fresh Perspective.
Also in this edition is a brief overview of the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) conference held in Houston, Texas USA in October this year. Pershouse Joint Managing Director Peter Kedwell attended this conference along with representatives from a number of Market wholesaling businesses, Woolworths, Coles, as well as representatives from a variety of organizations right along the produce supply chain in Australia.
Enjoy your read!!

Pershouse gets the Bash Bug
This year, Pershouse Produce was a proud supporter of the 2007 XXXX Gold Variety ‘Beef ‘n’ Beaches’ Bash participants Rhiannon “Rio” Law and her brother Josh.

One of 250 Teams participating in this year’s Bash, Rio and Josh were amongst the youngest competitors, and were inspired by some friends who had participated in the Variety Bash the year before.

The hard work preparing the vehicle and attracting team sponsors paid off though, with the team fundraising over $15,000 for Variety Qld, which is an excellent achievement.

Variety is an organisation dedicated to raising funds for sick, disabled and disadvantaged children under 18 years of age. Started by the entertainment industry, Variety is known as the ‘Heart of Show Business’ and has an outstanding reputation, playing a vital role in assisting many worthwhile projects.

The Bash series has been running for a number of years and is extraordinarily popular, with many Bash Veterans coming back year after year, and every year, a new crop of Bash ‘virgins’ try their hand at this terrific event.

Rio said the Bash was a fantastic experience.

“We met so many great people. There was such camaraderie amongst all the Bash teams – everyone helped each other if you got into trouble.” said Rio.

“Our car broke down 3 days from the end on Day 7 (mechanical issues and not driver error!!) and had to be towed to the finish. But it was still the best fun!”

Rio, who works for Brisbane Market wholesaler A.E Chave, reckons that working in the Markets was an excellent preparation for the Bash, which is a mostly 'male' event.

“There were a few female teams, and they all went really well. All the blokes are really supportive of the girls – real pussycats, and mostly real gentleman too.”

While it is hard work, there are lots of fun events along the way. The participants get to see firsthand where the money they raise goes too, stopping at schools and fundraising rallies along the way. Spreading the goodwill of Variety is all part of the XXXX Gold Bash series.

“It really makes the hard yards worthwhile when you see just how important the work Variety does is. The Bash is dirty, physically demanding and exhausting, but all of that just becomes a distant memory when you see how much good Variety does in the community.” Said Rio.

All money raised by Variety Qld is put toward Queensland based projects such as the Variety Sunshine Coach Programme, which assists special schools and other organisations transport children to their daily activities and excursions.

And while, the Pershouse Bug didn’t make it all the way Rio and Josh still got the Bug across the line on the back of a tow truck.

Quite fitting really, when you consider that the whole impetus for this event is ‘giving people in need a helping hand’.

And, will Rio participate in the Bash next year? You betcha!!

www.varietyqld.org.au

Staff Profile - Graham Meagher
Amongst Brisbane Market Wholesalers, Graham Meagher is a living legend.
One of the Market’s few remaining ‘immortals’ (those few Market folk who moved from the original Turbot and Roma St Markets to Rocklea), Graham has seen so many changes in his 51years at the Markets that it is difficult to know where to start!
Known as ‘Mr Stanthorpe’, Graham has been working with many of the regions apple and stonefruit growers for over 45 years. And he still loves it.
“It s still tough getting out of bed in the morning, but the energy in here just carries you. It gives me my youthful glow!” said Graham.
Married to Lorna for 42 years, and with two sons, Graham has made a career out of the markets.
“I started at the Turbot St Markets in Brisbane as an office boy when I was just 14 years old. I had studied accountancy, but hated being stuck in an office. I used to work in the cashier's office, and occasionally helped out the salesmen on the floor. Soon I started selling more, and ended up being a salesman myself.”
“I started working with Irelands 18 at the Roma St Markets and shifted with them when the Brisbane Markets relocated to Rocklea. “ said Graham.
“Then I sold my share with Ireland’s and went to work with J.E. Tippers and stayed with them for 25 years.”
During Graham's 51 years in the Markets he has worked for a number of wholesalers including Deveney’s, Country Fresh and A.S. Barrs, which is now Pershouse Produce.
“I have been here so long that now I deal with the grandchildren of my original growers and retailers.”
“But there have been so many changes…some good and some not so good. It is a lot less labour intensive now. I don’t think I would have been able to stay in this game for so long if we were still hand stacking pallets!”
But don’t be fooled Graham is still a fit man - no hip replacement is going to slow himdown! And, while his pace is more conducive to long walks, he was once a keen soccer player, playing 1st Division and representing Qld for a number of years, as well as coaching kids soccer, and playing cricket and basketball.
And when is he going to give this game away? Not any time soon.
“I’ll know when I’ve had enough, but I am still enjoying it, so I’ll be at it for a while yet!”

PMA Fresh Summit 2007
This year, Pershouse Produce Joint Managing Director, Peter Kedwell, attended the Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit Conference in Houston, Texas USA.
The Produce Marketing Association (PMA) is the leading global trade association serving the produce and floral sector. The international membership of the PMA comprises all areas of the global supply chains for produce and flowers, and the 'Fresh Summit' conference enables this membership to:
• Make valuable connections
• Launch new products and services
• Increase their company's visibility
• Come face-to-face with key buyers
• Gather intelligence for benchmarking and new product development
• Extend their reach into new markets around the globe
“The networking opportunities alone were well worth the flight over” said Peter Kedwell.
“And I was just blown away by some of the new technology being used for packaging and storing product, and how advanced and yet also how 'backward' some countries were in terms of their propensity to embrace all of these wonderful developments.”
Fresh Summit was attended by some 15,900 people from 58 countries with around 800 exhibitors.
“There was a fairly good representation by Australian produce organizations including the major chains and importers and exporters. One thing that was apparent to us all was just how small Australia is in relation to the global produce scene. We are however quality producers, with a solid reputation as such, and this will certainly enable us to take advantage of some of the amazing opportunities that are available to us in this region.”
Peter sees countries such as India and China as countries where Australia should be turning its attention.
“Look, it has been talked about for some time that India and China are the boom economies. Their growth is just amazing. I attended a seminar on India and I just couldn’t believe the numbers – the statistics speak for themselves” said Peter. (Note: we have included the seminar paper on India at the end of this article)
Aside from global issues and trade, there were some really helpful hints for retailing and displaying of produce.
“Some of the visual display techniques used by retailers in the USA were very impressive. Of course, our better retailers in Australia have picked up on these, but there is always something new. There were some great techniques for using block colours for stacking and presentation - using the terrific colours, shapes and textures of the more exotic varieties in large displays. Tantalising stuff!!
Overall the conference was a great opportunity to meet up with some of the bigger buyers from Australia and internationally in a different environment and compare notes on speakers and exhibitors.
“I’m sure the Australian representatives from Coles and Woolworths were equally as impressed as I was with what we heard and saw, but I’m also sure that it also reinforced that Australian growers are up there with the best in the world – even though we aren’t the largest.”

Click to view - PMA07 - Incredible India.pdf

www.pma.com

If you have a story or article that you think would make a great addition to Fresh Perspective contact;

Laura Koman
Ph: 07 3379 3034
Email: laura@pershouse.com.au