Milich named marketer of the year Mira Milich has taken the gong for Marketer of the Year at the Apple and Pear Australia Limited (APAL) awards for excellence. No stranger to Brisbane Markets, Ms Milich is a common sight in the Brisbane Produce Market promoting regional growers at Montague. It is Ms Milich’s passion for not just marketing fresh fruit, but bringing growers, buyers and consumers together to build understanding, loyalty – and sales – that have made her marketing so powerful and earned her the 2020 Marketer of the Year award. “I’m a connector,” she says simply.
Her hope for the award is that it will show how important it is for growers’ stories to be told so that consumers can learn more about the process of growing fruit and the people who do it. “It is essential we share how our food is grower-delivered, the beautiful places it comes from and how much time and effort producers invest, so that people can value and appreciate the food they put on their table. It’s good to share, as it is the reality,” Ms Milich said. This is an extract of an article that first appeared in the Australian Fruitgrower magazine, Spring 2020 issue. You can read the full story at https://bit.ly/3jVCX6n.
As well as stonefruit and apple growers in Queensland’s Granite Belt, she now represents stonefruit growers as far south as Victoria’s Goulburn Valley. “There was all this beautiful fresh product on the market floor but we didn’t really see any of the farmers’ faces behind the product, and there was no education around it,” she said. “I felt really strongly that it was time to tell the story and help Australia learn more about the growing regions and the fruit that they take into their home, not only to tell growers’ stories but also to educate the consumer about choosing fruit. There are great benefits in seeing the face behind ‘the brand’ and talking to them one-to-one.” Building relationships has also built sales, Ms Milich says, as buyers familiar with the grower and happy with the fruit have consistently bought it themselves and told others about it. The beautiful photos and ‘behind-the-scenes’ videos of growers and their families, and what’s going on in the orchard season by season, that have been shared with Divine Fruits’ growing online following have also changed perceptions and buying habits among consumers. “To see growers in their orchards, their kids walking through and eating fruit, it’s very relatable,” Ms Milich said. “People don’t just comment on the post, they take the time to email and say they saw it and went and bought the fruit and please could I pass on to the growers that they were the best apples they’ve ever eaten.”
Bearing divine fruit: 2020 APAL Marketer of the Year Mira Milich. IMAGE: Emily Bloomfield.
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