Wild About Fruit takes out July award

The busy Barry family has owned and operated the Nambour fruit and vegetable store, Wild About Fruit, for nearly 11 years but in their first year as a Brisbane Produce Market Fresh Tastes retailer, they have proven they can outshine the city greengrocers.

Wild About Fruit was named Brisbane Produce Market’s Fresh Tastes Retailer of the Month for July 2009.

Peter Barry only registered the popular Nambour store in the Fresh Tastes retailer program this year and after the first round of mystery shopping, have proven the store is a winner when it comes to quality product lines.

Peter, Kathy and daughter Becky Barry all work in the Nambour Heights store which is open seven days a week. Becky manages the store and has taken control of staff education.

“We put in the time to educate our staff members so that they can answer questions with a degree of knowledge. Customers come to us because we can offer them the personal advice and information a supermarket can’t,” said Becky Barry.

“After so many years of experience we are confident that our store layout and product variety is spot on for our customers.”

The Fresh Tastes program is a Brisbane Produce Market initiative to encourage excellence in fresh produce retailing. Participating retailers are provided with point of sale materials, in-store competitions, e-newsletters, development sessions, promotional opportunities and mystery shopping.

A mystery shopper visits their store twice throughout the year for the Retailer of the Month and Retailer of the Year awards. More than 100 independent fruit and vegetable retailers throughout South-East Queensland participate.

Brisbane Markets Marketing and Communications Manager, Ann-Marie Johansen said the Fresh Tastes program meant customers were the winners. She said that greengrocers like Wild About Fruit offered support to develop their staff’s customer service skills and their ability to supply the highest quality fruit and vegetables.

“By being part of the Fresh Tastes program our retailers demonstrate their commitment to excellence in produce, service and continual improvement which means a great shopping experience for their customers,” Ms Johansen said.

Wild About Fruit is located in Nambour Heights at 125 Mapleton Rd and is open seven days a week. Monday – Friday 6.00am – 7.00pm, Saturday 6.00am – 6.30pm and Sunday 6.00am – 6.00pm.

Becky Barry of Wild About Fruit, Nambour with the July Brisbane Produce Market Retailer of the Month trophy.