Australia’s best avo toast unveiled

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Australia’s best avo toast unveiled

Avocados Australia has found Australia’s Best Avo Toast dish! The winner of the inaugural Australia’s Best Avo Toast competition was announced to coincide with National Avocado Day celebrations. Little Hideout Café, based in Balmoral in Brisbane, was the winner of the Australia’s Best Avo Toast Competition with their stunning avocado dish, selected from 10 finalists. Manish Shrestha, the owner and chef at Little Hideout, created the winning dish called ‘Seasonal Avocado’ and was presented with a golden avocado trophy. The winning dish features a generous amount of sliced fresh avocado on top of a slice of ‘Wild Grains’ sourdough and served with roast tomato aioli. Piped balls of whipped fetta are dotted around the bread and are topped with thin slices of radish. A flamboyant smear of

Avo go: Brent Chambers (Simpson Farms), Peter Marinos (Big Michael’s Fruit & Vegetables), winner Manish Shrestha (Little Hideout), and John Tyas (CEO, Avocados Australia).

deliciously creamy beetroot hummus surrounds the sourdough slice and then the whole dish is topped with sprinkles of homemade dukka. Mr Shrestha from Little Hideout is excited about their win and proud that their dish has attracted attention. “I carefully made this dish to ensure that all the flavours heroed fresh Australian avocado,” Mr Shrestha said. “It is wonderful that Little Hideout’s dish stood out from all the entries and was selected the winner.” Australia’s Best Avo Toast Competition judge and Avocados Australia’s CEO, John Tyas, was impressed with the entries and was particularly proud to see Australian avocados showcased in so many ways. “It is wonderful to see how the Australian food service industry champions fresh Australian avocados on a plate,” said John Tyas. “We could tell from paddock-to-plate that Little Hideout’s dish is a standout using the freshest and best quality avocados.” On hand to present the award were Peter Marinos from Big Michael’s Fruit & Vegetables who supply Little Hideout and Brent Chambers from Simpson Farms, one of the avocado growers who supply Big Michael’s. “It is wonderful to know that the fresh Australian avocados that we supply to Little Hideout have won an award,” said Mr Marinos said. “A lot of care goes into growing our quality avocados so it is great to know that the avocados Big Michael’s is supplying to Little Hideout are attracting such positive attention,” Mr Chambers said.

A better choice! for shoppers

Big changes have come to Queensland’s A better choice! Retailer Program. In July, a new Free Member category was introduced and the program has grown to include almost 110 local fruit and vegetable shops from across Queensland. The change came at the same time as an increase in consumertargeted advertising was rolled out, featuring Queenslandfocused television and radio advertisements which are now in market and will run consistently throughout the financial year. The advertisements are designed to educate consumers about the many benefits of shopping at their local independent fruit and veg retailer and encourage consumers to shop where they see the A better choice! logo. The advertisements also tell the story of the important role the Brisbane Markets at Rocklea plays in the supply chain as Queensland’s heart of fresh produce. This advertising push comes on the back of successful national campaigns, including the Win a Holiday campaign which gave Queensland consumers the opportunity to win one of ten $500 travel vouchers as a thank you for supporting their local fruit and veg shop. The campaign focused on the hardworking, and often multigenerational, families who run independent fruit and veg shops, and the families in their communities who show their support by choosing to shop locally. The multichannel campaign included ads on social media, radio, and Broadcast Video on Demand. Retailers were supplied with campaign collateral to display at point-of-sale and high traffic areas of their stores. The campaign received more than 16,000 entries during the ten-week campaign. In Queensland, every store in the program received entries, highlighting the positive engagement amongst retailers and consumers alike. Each entry in the competition contributed towards the coveted ABC Retailer of the Year People’s Choice Award (see page 29 for more details).

Is your shop a better choice?

Are you the owner of a local fruit and veg shop? Interested in what A better choice! Retailer Program has to offer? Contact Queensland’s ABC team to find out more. Simply give them a call on (07) 3915 4222 or 0457 486 280 to discuss you options.