48 AUG 2019 ISSUE
of affairs
The Big Picture of Australian Horticulture Early Buyers Permit: We’re Not Buying It
2019 Fresh State Gala Ball
Hort Connections: The Inside Scoop
ISSUE 48 — AUG 2019
Contents 04
04 — We’re Not Buying It The poor enforcement of the Early Buyers Permit has gone on long enough.
06 — 2019 Fresh State Gala Ball Book your tickets to the biggest event on the market calendar!
08 — Raising Funds and Awareness LaManna Premier held a very successful BBQ Fundraiser for Beyond Blue in July, and here are the results.
11
06
11 —Updated Guidelines for Fresh Produce Food Safety July saw the release of the new 2019 Fresh Produce Food Safety Guidelines.
12 — Hort Connections Tradeshow: The Inside Scoop Victorian produce was the centerpiece at this year’s tradeshow.
14 —Hort Connections: A Market Visit
16 — Hort Connections: Growing Our Food Future An overview of the speaker sessions which were the heart of this year’s conference.
18 — Hort Connections: Industry Awards The Melbourne Market was well represented at this year’s National Awards for Excellence.
20 — A Little Goes a Long Way
This year’s market visit brought delegates out to Epping to see our new facility.
Published By:
CEO: Jason Cooper jason@freshstate.com.au Editor/Advertising: Kate Cook kate@freshstate.com.au
W: freshstate.com.au P: (03) 9408 6627 2
Photography: Kate Cook
Design & Print:
Distribution: Fresh State of Affairs is produced by Fresh State Ltd. and is a free publication.
ISSUE 48 — AUG 2019
President’s Message 20
22 — Spicy Carrot and Ginger Soup 24 — Our Lucky Last Winners The MMCS’ raffle promotion has come to a close but don’t worry, our team isn’t going anywhere!
26 — You Can’t Stop Innovation As innovations in our industry continue it is important to stay up to date with the latest ideas.
27 — Calendar of Events
The market can sometimes feel removed from the rest of the world. We run on our own hours, sleep during the day, and our love for fresh produce is more than your average smashed avo enthusiast. But every year when Hort Connections comes around we are reminded that we are not so detached after all, as we are an essential part of our city and the entire Australian Horticultural Industry. This June, Hort Connections was held in Melbourne and I had the opportunity to celebrate our market in the FMA/CMAA tradeshow area, and to talk about “A Better Choice” and its continued success in supporting independent retailers. Knowing that the market doesn’t stop for Hort Connections, we have gathered information from across the conference in this edition so that no one misses out on the great discussions that were had. Alongside this, we also look into the issue of the struggling Early Buyers Permit, the recent success of the LaManna Premier Fundraising BBQ, and more. As a member’s company, Fresh State are continually acting on your behalf to ensure the market is a fair workplace for the many businesses that call it home. We welcome market users bringing issues to our attention, and in an effort to better inform the market about Fresh State’s operations we have recently launched the Fresh State Update — a brief fortnightly bulletin that provides information and insight into what Fresh State are working on.
Shane Schnitzler President Fresh State Ltd. 3
ISSUE 48 — AUG 2019
We’re Not Buying It The MMA have had since October last year to work out the kinks of their Early Buyers Permit, yet they have fallen drastically short of making this a fair system for the market users who have gone to the trouble of getting one.
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ISSUE 48 — AUG 2019
A lot can be achieved in the space of 10 months, but it seems that for the MMA the institution of a fair system for those who have bought a $10,000 permit to access the market early is not one of them. Fresh State were skeptical from the outset about the introduction of this Early Buyers Permit, not only because it unfairly prioritises businesses that can afford the fee, but because the system of keeping people out of the market had not been fully thought through. We advised the MMA that we would be happy to discuss the issues of the permit when it was in it’s planning stages, but once it had been launched it was their responsibility to manage the effects and this is where they have got themselves into trouble.
businesses that have signed up, but we understand that only 6 businesses have purchased an Early Buyers Permit, allowing them to access the market between the hours of 2:30am and 3:30am on weekdays. This should mean that during these hours there will be only 6 businesses on the buyers walk making purchases, but this is a far cry from what is actually happening. Wholesalers are still seeing a large amount of market users entering the trading areas early to make their purchases without a permit, which is in clear violation of the Early Buyers Permit rules.
This unfair and easily avoidable issue was created by the MMA and must be solved by them. A clear path to fix this issue would be to remove the Early Buyers Permit from the market and refund those who purchased the $10,000 permit.
The decision to implement the Early Buyers Permit was made because of the results of the Trading Hours Survey conducted by the MMA last year. This showed that the market was evenly divided in 3 different directions about the issue of changing market hours. Unfortunately, the MMA then made an illogical decision — despite divided responses to the survey (28% wanted later opening hours, 35% wanted earlier opening hours, and 37% wanted hours to stay the same), the MMA decided that listening to only one third of the market and ignoring the other 65% was the way to go. In the time that this permit has been available in the market, the MMA has been secretive about the
The onus of enforcing this Early Buyers Permit cannot be passed onto the wholesalers. To ask them to turn down a buyer who cannot produce an Early Buyers Permit during these hours is not only ridiculous, but will end up being another inconsistently enforced system that hurts those refusing purchases from the permit-less market users, and would make a large aspect of the Market Relations Officers’ roles redundant. This unfair and easily avoidable issue was created by the MMA and must be solved by them. A clear path to fix this issue would be to remove the Early Buyers Permit from the market and refund those who purchased the $10,000 permit. As the ones in charge of this market the MMA need to be held accountable, and the solution of refunding the permits may be enough to ensure they think their systems through properly in the future.
5
presents
Sat, 31 Aug
Peninsula Shed 14 – Central Pier, 161 Harbour Esplanade, Docklands 6
BOOKINGS NOW OPEN This is the 9th year that Fresh State has put on the Gala Ball, and we are sure that this will be our best event yet. Bring your colleagues, your family, and your dancing shoes to the event that has become the highlight of the Melbourne Market year.
Ticket Price (after 16
th
$2,000 for a table of 10 (plus GST)
Bookings & Enquiries
Aug)
$200 for a
Single Tickert (plus GST)
kate@freshstate.com.au
Fresh State awards Wholesale Company of the Year
Wholesale Personality of the Year
Young Marketeer of the Year
Buyer
of the Year more info at
freshstate.com.au 7
ISSUE 48 — AUG 2019
Raising Funds and Awareness On Friday the 12th of July there was the distinct smell of a BBQ in the Melbourne Market, as LaManna Premier Group held an event to raise funds for Beyond Blue and play their part in starting conversations about mental health awareness.
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Although those that work in the Melbourne Market are often short on sleep, they never fail to get behind a good cause and that is exactly what took place at LaManna Premier Group’s fundraising BBQ in the Melbourne Market. At 5am the grill was hot and market users started to arrive after a long night of trading. Everyone seemed happy to contribute to the cause, especially as 100% of contributions donated at the BBQ were going directly to Beyond Blue. Joe Manatiri, LaManna Premier Group’s General Manager of Trading, was on the BBQ cooking up a storm and was more than happy to fill us in on why the company was holding this event. “We’re planning to hold one of these in all the central markets… in a male dominated industry and especially with the hours we work, conversations about mental health are important which is why we chose to do this and support Beyond Blue”. A total of over $13,000 was raised at this one event, which is a great result and a testament to the generosity of the Melbourne Market community, and there will surely be more to come as LaManna Premier continues to run these fundraisers across the Australian central markets. LaManna Premier would like to say a special thank you to the companies that made significant contributions on the day, which were Robinson’s Fresh Solutions, Fresh State, and the Melbourne Market Authority.
Although men may have been traditionally taught to bottle things up, this is a likely cause of the high statistics being recorded about males experiencing mental health issues — currently one in eight men will experience depression and one in five men will experience anxiety at some point in their lives. By opening up conversations about mental health and showing that it is a positive thing to seek information and assistance from organisations such as Beyond Blue or other mental health services, we may be able to reduce the stigma around mental health issues so that people can access help whenever they need it.
A total of over $13,000 was raised at this one event, which is a great result and a testament to the generosity of the Melbourne Market community
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Updated Guidelines for
Fresh Produce Food Safety In June this year the 2019 Guidelines for Fresh Produce Food Safety were released, which take into account the entire supply chain of fresh produce and are aimed at assisting the prevention of hazards every step of the way. In recent years it is undeniable that the Australian Horticulture Industry has been hit by some major food safety issues in regard to contamination and tampering, and these events have not been ignored in the creation of these new guidelines. The Fresh Produce Safety Centre Australia & New Zealand (FPSC A-NZ) are using these new guidelines for Fresh Produce Food Safety as a clear effort to ensure potential food safety hazards are identified and properly assessed. The 2019 Guidelines were developed by the FPSC A-NZ’s technical committee using their expertise in this area and knowledge of the complexity of the supply chain to create detailed strategies and procedures to prevent issues like those the horticulture industry has recently experienced or escalations of these issues. The guidelines were launched at the Hort Connections conference in June this year in order to make sure they were widely publicised amongst the Horticultural community of Australia.
Melbourne Market Authority Chairman, Peter Tuohey, spoke at the Tradeshow launch of these new guidelines, saying that their aim is to “ensure Australian produce has the highest safety standards of any produce anywhere in the world”. He went on to explain that these safety guidelines are an invaluable resource to anyone involved in the fresh produce industry, and that they “set out the procedures and steps to prevent or deal with contaminations, and cover a comprehensive list of practices and potential hazards to assist growers, packers, transporters, wholesalers, and retailers along the supply chain”. These guidelines are available online through www.freshstate.com.au/services and we highly recommend that every Melbourne Market business download a copy to ensure that they are compliant and are protecting their company and their customers through using the best procedures available to ensure food safety standards are upheld.
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Hort Connections Tradeshow:
The Inside Scoop This was the 3rd year that Hort Connections was hosted through the combined efforts of both PMA AustraliaNew Zealand Limited (PMA-ANZ) and AUSVEG, and the Melbourne Market was right in the thick of things through wholesaler displays in the FMA/CMAA booth which had the largest presence on the tradeshow floor.
This year was the first time the PMA-ANZ and AUSVEG combined conference has been held in Melbourne, and the Melbourne Market wholesalers showed up in force to put on a great demonstration of the produce available in Victoria. As a result of Fresh Markets Australia (FMA) and the Central Markets Association of Australia (CMAA) coming together to sponsor the tradeshow, our Melbourne Market wholesalers had a prime position through the FMA/ CMAA tradeshow area which was located directly within the tradeshow entrance. At the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, delegates were greeted by a great range of varieties from those exhibiting in our section of the 12
tradeshow — there was tropical fruit, a great variety of vegetables, your classic produce staples, and even a stunning floral display. With so many things to see, our wholesalers received a great reception from those attending the tradeshow and it was very clear that the FMA/CMAA area was the place to be. A special mention has to go to the displays of Arcella Bananas, who delighted the delegates by giving out their famous Tropicana Bananas to help fuel delegates through their long days, and Robinsons Fresh Solutions, who took their stand to the next level by making it an interactive area full of information about their different services that also featured a wheel that could be spun to win prizes.
ISSUE 48 — AUG 2019
There was a lot happening on the tradeshow floor this year, some of the more inventive attractions being the produce innovations such as cauliflower lattes and papaya cocktails served up by Hort Innovation, a rainbow art piece by Rjik Zwaan that developed over the conference, and a cornhole competition run by Corteva Argiscience. With just under 3,500 delegates over the 3 days, and 330 stands exhibiting within the tradeshow, there was always something new to see and learn on the tradeshow floor in 2019. For those who missed out on exhibiting in this year’s tradeshow don’t worry, it is sure to return to our city in coming years and as this conference grows so will the opportunities available to your business. There were a few companies who assisted Fresh State
the organisation of this event and we would like to thank Tailored Freight for organising the transport of produce to the tradeshow, Perfection Fresh who allowed us to use their warehouse for storage, and CHEP who provided us with bins and crates that created the structure for our wholesaler’s displays. We would also like to thank all of our exhibitors for their contributions — thank you to Halit Flowers, Fresh Cut Processors, Granieri’s Fresh Produce, Ferrinda Fresh, Produce of Virginia, Farmers Fresh Produce, Gazzola Farms, Just Onions, Organic Growers Group, Corrigans Produce Farms, Barkers Fresh Produce, Arcella Bananas, Robinsons Fresh Solutions, and Produce Time.
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Hort Connections:
A Market Visit Those from the Melbourne Market who couldn’t make it to Hort Connections this year still got to experience one vital part of the convention that is present each year, a visit to the hosting state’s central market.
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Every year at Hort Connections on the very first day of the convention, delegates have the option of getting up nice and early and going out to the hosting state’s central market to explore the facility and see how it is run, and this year the Melbourne Market was the one on display. There were around 90 delegates who arrived at the market on Monday the 24th of June, and for many of them this was their first experience of our new facility in Epping so they were excited to see the changes and innovations that were made with this new site. This publicity for our market was a great opportunity to show off our wholesalers on the buyers walk, at the flower market, and on the growers floor. It may have been a chilly morning, but as soon as the visitors saw the fresh produce and got the opportunity to talk to our market users everyone started to warm up. The delegates were split up into 6 groups and each visited one of our market stores during their tour to find out more about a specific business, and hear about their operations as well as their history with the Melbourne Market. The unique layout and custom-
built facilities at our market were also a great feature, and those visiting had the chance to see the backs of stores and the warehouses as well, and they were also taken through the sustainability and recycling practices of the market and were shown our satellite recycling station. It was great to hear reports later in the conference from those who had visited the market who are involved in markets in other states, and how impressed they were by the modern and purposeful design of the Melbourne Market. All of the touring groups came back together at the Melbourne Market Authority’s meeting room, where the delegates were treated to breakfast and some information from MMA CEO, Mark Maskiell, about the market itself and what opportunities will be on offer in the future. These opportunities were both physical, such as the use of the vacant land next door to the market, as well as in the marketing space through the National Retail Program “A Better Choice” that is being run by the MMA and Fresh State for Victoria, and is a program that is being run in all states across Australia aimed at championing independent retailers.
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Hort Connections:
Growing Our Food Future The theme of Hort Connections in 2019 was all about looking ahead to the future of fresh produce; from AI and technological advances to the impact of climate change and how to limit waste and environmental impact, there was a lot of discussion about where our industry is headed and lots to learn from the many expert speakers at the conference.
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One of the great things about Hort Connections is its ability to bring together the many groups involved with fresh produce and facilitate discussions that are vital to the industry moving forward. In order to make sure that you haven’t missed out on any of this important information, we have put together an overview of some of the panels and sessions run during the conference so that we can continue these discussions here at the Melbourne Market. Kicking off the conference was Adam Liaw, food columnist and television presenter, who took a broad overview on the topic of “Growing our Food Future” and engaged the audience through focusing on the increasing demand for fresh produce and how marketing produce on the simple basis that “Vegetables are delicious” is actually an important strategy. He spoke on the findings of the EATLancet Commission Report on Food, Planet, and Health, and how Prof. Walter Willet MD was quoted saying that “transformation to healthy diets by 2050 will require substantial dietary shifts. Global consumption of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes will have to double”. It seems that the future of fresh produce will be overwhelmingly positive if companies take advantage of these food trends and the rising need for sustainable and healthy lifestyles that all point toward increased produce consumption and diets rich in plant-based foods. CEO of AUSVEG, James Whiteside, also
weighed in on this during the conference by saying that “there is no doubt that of all the opportunities for Australian agriculture — it’s horticulture that the world will turn to.” During the State of the Industry Panel at the conference, the emphasis was on technology and data. Angeline Achariya, a Monash University researcher, spoke about how the trends that we are seeing in the fresh food space are now moving beyond health and wellness to a higher specificity: the “intersection of personalisation”. Her insight into the research highlighted the ways that food has the potential to become more personalised for individuals, in fact it is already happening with new technology that can analyse an individual’s DNA and design a diet specifically for that person and their lifestyle. With this in mind, her recommendation was for businesses to look at where they are investing and what they are bringing into the marketplace that can adapt to this specificity. There were so many great discussions and debates that were furthered during this conference and it is well worth reading some of the articles that have been written on these talks if you missed out. The centrality of these talks to the convention overall cannot be understated — it is well worth planning ahead for the 2020 Hort Connections conference in Brisbane and making sure you will be free to attend and have your say in these vital conversations.
Above: Chef, television presenter, and food columnist, Adam Liaw 17
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Hort Connections:
Industry Awards Hort Connections always finishes with a bang: the 2019 National Awards for Excellence. This year the awards were held at Crown Palladium and it was great to see members of Fresh State and the Melbourne Market being recognised for their contributions to the industry.
Above: Michael Granieri from Granieri’s Fresh Produce and FMA Chairman Shane Schnitzler.
Although the Australian horticultural industry is extensive and is spread across the entire country, it was great to see members of Fresh State and the Melbourne Market on the main stage at the Hort Connections National Awards for Excellence this year. This event is the showstopping finish to the convention each year, and with over 1400 delegates attending the dinner and many hotly contested awards to be given out, it was definitely a night you didn’t want to miss. 18
Above: Brett Collins from Perfection Fresh and FMA Chairman Shane Schnitzler.
AUSVEG CEO James Whiteside commented that “everyone who was nominated for an award this year has demonstrated their passion and commitment to the industry and has made a valuable contribution to its ongoing growth and success. I’d like to congratulate every individual and business who won an award at this year’s National Awards for Excellence and thank them for their continued dedication to our industry”.
ISSUE 48 — AUG 2019
We were lucky enough to see two of our Melbourne Market members receive an award honouring them for their hard work over the years. The first was the Col Johnson Young Achievers’ Award, which was presented to Michael Granieri of Granieri’s Fresh Produce, and the second was the Meritorious Service Award which was presented to Brett Collins of Perfection Fresh. We would like to congratulate these two on this achievement and thank them for all they have contributed to the Melbourne Market. Along with these winners there were also a number of nominees from businesses in our market community who deserve recognition, so congratulations to the following: Catherine Velisha from Velisha Farms
who was nominated for the Syngenta Grower of the Year award and the Boomaroo Nurseries Women in Horticulture award, the Costa Avocado team from Costa Farms and Sona Padman from FreshMax for their nominations for the MOYA Marketer of the Year award, and Stephanie Corrigan from Corrigans Produce Farms who was nominated for the Corteva Agriscience Young Grower of the Year award and the Boomaroo Nurseries Women in Horticulture award. This recognition for our Melbourne Market users on a national level is something to be celebrated, and we look forward to seeing more familiar names and faces in the running for the 2020 National Awards for Excellence in Brisbane next year.
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An ingredient this versatile is so easy to work into your diet, and with all it’s added health benefits you would be crazy not to try a little.
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A Little Goes a Long Way It may not be the prettiest of ingredients but adding a bit of fresh ginger to your meal is sure to give it a bit of punch that will elevate your recipe and wow your dinner guests. This is an ingredient that is rooted in history. It has been recorded as one of the most commonly used ingredients in the world, and this is not just simply as a tasty addition to a meal. For thousands of years it has been used to treat ailments such as colds, nausea, arthritis, migraines, and hypertension, not to mention it being used in Chinese tradition to scare away evil spirits when a newborn child was first brought into the home. Being so versatile, ginger has been used for almost everything at this point — in the 19th century it was even known to be available in a salt shaker in pubs to sprinkle into your beer or ale, which some claim is how ginger ale first got started. As for the ingredient itself, ginger is in between a spicy and a peppery flavour, it has a touch of zest to it as well as sweetness, and comes in a variety of forms from fresh to pickled to dried, plus you can even get candied ginger if you’d like to try something different. It is a cousin of bamboo but is more closely related to other ingredients like turmeric and cardamom. Although commonly known and recognised as a root, the edible portion of the ginger plant that we are familiar with is actually called a rhizome, which is not a root at all but a branch of the plant which grows underground. The plant is grown widely across the world in tropical regions, with India, China, and Nigeria being large producers, but even here on Australian soil we are producing approximately 8,000 tonnes
each year mostly from the South Eastern region of Queensland. The plant was actually first brought to Australia with the first fleet, as it was considered to be a potential crop to be cultivated on this new land especially due to it’s high demand back in England, but it took another 150 years after it arrived before it began to be grown commercially. Most kitchens will use ginger regularly in their cooking as it is such a versatile ingredient and adds so much flavour. No matter the season, a little bit of ginger can be added to a soup for some added warmth, to a salad for some added zest, or to sweet treats or cakes for a bit of variety. The many uses of this ingredient also carries across to how ginger has been used in different cuisines — in India it is often used in curries or in their famous chai tea, in South East Asia it is a common addition to soups and broths, and the Japanese often pickle ginger and use it as a condiment. An ingredient this versatile is so easy to work into your diet, and with all it’s added health benefits you would be crazy not to try a little. Next time you visit your local greengrocer take a look at their ginger selection — it is said that the smooth and large “hands” of ginger are the best for flavour, but remember that a little goes a long way.
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Spicy Carrot and Ginger Soup Warm up with this spicy and healthy flavour filled carrot soup! A dish that you can prepare regularly now the weather is getting a little colder outside.
Ingredients
Method
¡¡ 1 chopped onion
1.
¡¡ 1 clove of garlic, minced
2. Add
¡¡ 500g medium carrots,
peeled and chopped
¡¡ 2 sweet potatoes, peeled
and chopped
¡¡ 500ml chicken stock ¡¡ 1/2 red chilli, finely chopped ¡¡ 2tsp fresh ginger, shredded
Heat olive oil in a large pot chopped onion and shredded garlic and sauté for 4 minutes
3. Add
chopped carrots and sweet potato
4. Add
chicken stock and bring to boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until carrots are very tender, this will take approximately 20–30 minutes
5. Puree
the soup with a blender and return soup to the pot before mixing in the fresh ginger and chilli
6. Season
with salt and pepper, and serve
Alterations: Add 3 spoons of coconut milk before blending for a twist, or add a tablespoon of yoghurt to every serving for some freshness. 22
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Our Lucky Last Winners When the Melbourne Market Credit Service first announced their raffle to reward members it seemed as if the prizes would just keep coming, but after seven months and nine great prizes being awarded to lucky winners this promotion is now at an end.
Everyone loves a good old-fashioned raffle, and that is why it was the perfect choice for the Melbourne Market Credit Service to use as a long running promotion to reward those that use the credit service. Starting in December last year the credit service as been awarding their members with entries into a monthly and quarterly raffle based on the amount, they put through the MMCS. And with prizes like a $250 Dining Gift Voucher going out every month and a $1200 Luxury Accommodation Gift Voucher going out each quarter, there were definitely extra incentives to make sure that all of your market trading went through the MMCS. The final month of this promotion was in June, the results of which were only recently drawn towards the end of July. Our last two winners were Produce of Virginia who took home the last of our monthly prizes and Independent Fresh Produce who won the second of only 2 quarterly prizes given out in this promotion. The MMCS would like to say congratulations to all of the businesses who were lucky enough to win a prize and thank all of their users for their continued membership with the credit service — after all, we are a community at the Melbourne Market and the MMCS is here to make market trading easier on everyone. Above: Matt Tran from Produce of Virginia. 24
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Above: Sam Gangemi and Tony De Vincentis from Independent Fresh Produce.
Meet the MMCS Team The Melbourne Market Credit Service are located right here in the market in the Fresh State office, store 36 on the Melbourne Market Buyers Walk. We have a great team who are here to assist you, whether you are looking at starting a new account, updating your details, or have questions about payments, schedules, or short payments. If you are an existing Credit Service user you have probably
spoken to our staff before, we are a team of 4 made up of Jenny, our New Accounts Officer, Angee and Lisha, our customer service representatives, and Carolyn, the MMCS Administration Manager. If you are in the market, feel free to drop by the office between the hours of 6am to 2pm and the credit service staff will be here to help you out.
Above: Carolyn, Angee, Jenny, and Lisha from the MMCS. 25
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You Can’t Stop Innovation We may not have flying cars and jetpacks yet, but the fresh produce industry is continually moving forward and coming up with amazing new uses of produce and new tech to keep us well and truly in the modern age.
One of the great things about industry conferences is that every company is there to show off, and that brings about great displays of the latest tech and innovations on the market or even yet to be released. At Hort Connections in 2019 this was evident even on the tradeshow floor, where you could find tech from the latest fruit and vegetable packing solutions to specially designed drones which are sure to become a grower’s best friend. The buzz piece of innovation from the tradeshow was from Hort Innovation, who wowed the delegates once again with their cauliflower lattes that contained 7 grams of cauliflower powder which is equivalent to one serve of veggies. The Hort Innovation team may be seen to be firing out of the same gun as last year’s coffee invention, the broccoli latte, but who can complain when their cauliflower latte was a step in the right direction as taste testers saw this as a “creamier” option. During the sessions we saw the introduction of new tech as well as new ways of thinking. Black.ai Co-founder and CEO Keaton Okkonen spoke to 26
delegates about prioritising their shoppers experience by making their checkout systems easier. Okkonen and Black.ai have been working with major retailers in Australia to get around this issue, and they are focusing on the next step past our current self-serve options to make this process even easier. Currently Black.ai are working with 3D sensors that are mounted throughout stores, these sensors “map out the space, detect what’s happening, where the people are, what they are doing… and track those over time to track pick-up gestures and behaviours. Taking this approach, it’s customer-centric, not object-centric, and means we don’t need tags, shelf-weights, and overpackaging”. With consistent innovations in how we grow produce, how we shop for it, and what we do with it, the sky is the limit with where our industry can go, which is a great sign for Australian Horticulture and those involved with it.
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Calendar of Events
Friday 30th August — Melbourne Market’s 4th Birthday celebration
Saturday 31st August — Fresh State Gala Ball
Friday 27th September — AFL Grand Final, public holiday
Sunday 6th October — Daylight Savings begins
Disclaimer Fresh State Ltd makes this magazine available on the understanding the users exercise their own skill and care with respect to its use. Before relying on, or altering any business practices, users should carefully evaluate the accuracy, completeness and relevance of the information for their purpose and should obtain appropriate professional advice relevant to their particular circumstances. This magazine contains views and recommendations that do not necessarily reflect the views of Fresh State Ltd. Fresh State does not in any circumstances accept responsibility for the accuracy or suitability or otherwise of any information published in Fresh State of Affairs. Fresh State Ltd specifically disclaims all and any liability for loss or damage of any nature whatsoever and however arising, whether due to accuracy, error or omission or any other cause.
In addition, by using the information in this magazine, each user waives and releases Fresh State, its staff and agents from any and all claims relating to the use of this document. In no event shall Fresh State Ltd be liable for any consequential damages resulting from using the information in Fresh State of Affairs. © Fresh State Ltd 2019 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior permission from Fresh State Ltd. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to: The Editor Fresh State of Affairs Magazine Store 36, Melbourne Market 35 Produce Drive, Epping, VIC 3076 27
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