Brothers born into the game

affordable for the people of Perth. Decades on, this mission remains the same.

Volvo Group Australia recently visited Tony recently as part of the UD Trucks Lap of the Map tour around Australia, stopping in at the Spudshed Canning Vale depot.

Galati explained just how drastically the business has grown over the years and how reliable and efficient transport is crucial to getting food delivered to their stores consistently and on time.

“This operation out here in Canning Vale, we move about 400-500 pallets every day. You’ve got to be really quick when produce comes in and we load these trucks every morning,” said Tony.

impressive horsepower and torque, UD Trucks were a perfect match for the tonnage that Spudshed carts on a daily basis.

“We bought one truck and then another one and now we’ve got 17 UDs at this stage and we’re looking at buying a few more. They’re great on fuel efficiency and for the horsepower they’ve got and for the tonnage we cart, they’re really good. Probably the best in the market that I’ve seen.”

It was a bonus for Tony that the drivers enjoy driving the UD Trucks too. “The air-conditioning, the driving, the way they steer, the way they handle the road – they’re really happy with the trucks. I tell some of my drivers that they should be paying me for driving these trucks,” Tony laughed.

Continued page 42

FOR Spudshed owner, Tony Galati and his family, the growth of the business has been a journey of passion, dedication and growth spanning over four decades.

Spudshed manages a chain of 17 supermarkets, harvesting and delivering fresh, locally grown produce across WA.

Tony and his brothers Vince and Sam grew up helping their Sicilian parents run a two-hectare market garden that was established in Spearwood in the 1960s. What started as a simple farmer’s market saw the official opening of Spudshed in 1998, and the business has since bolstered itself into the multimillion-dollar operation that it is today, offering a large range of quality produce with a full meat, dairy and grocery offering.

With farms spanning all the way from Manjimup up to Kununurra, and more than 1100 Spudshed employees, the Galati family business has become a key identity in Perth. From the beginning, the business philosophy for Spudshed was simple: to bring down the cost of weekly shopping and make healthy fresh produce

“You don’t realise how much is involved in getting produce to a retail store or to the markets – and if you don’t have the reliability of your trucks, you’re in trouble.”

Tony explained that this reliability was one of the main factors that steered them towards UD Trucks after researching the products. With Spudshed’s trucks typically travelling between 600-700 kilometres a day, and between 1000-1200 kilometres during the busier season, this reliability remains a must. And with