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Harvest FreshCuts – which started as a one man wholesale outlet in the produce markets at Ipswich and is now part of a group that employs 500 staff to supply fresh produce across Australia – was awarded Woolworths Supplier of the Year 2008 for Fresh Produce at the annual Supplier of the Year function in Sydney on 5 December 2008. The award recognises the contributions made in the past year by Harvest FreshCuts in advancing Woolworths’ business objectives and is based on quantitative results of the retailer’s quarterly vendor performance assessments. It assesses excellence in critical areas such as supply chain management, product quality and safety, innovation and promotional activities. According to Rob Robson, CEO, it is the people within the family owned and operated business that are the key to its success. By combining professional managers, corporate governance and family values, we have created a business that attracts and retains outstanding people. ‘Our team’s dedication to improving day-to-day execution has contributed significantly to our performance,’ he says. ‘Every day, each of our business units reports on service at every level. This means the entire organisation is focusing on what really matters to our customers – filling their orders with top quality product.’ For the past three decades, the OneHarvest group has been a pioneer in fresh and fresh prepared food markets, supplying seedless watermelon, shepard avocados, Calypso™ mangoes, freshcut salads and stirfry products. The group employs over 500 people across regional and rural Australia in its farming, freshcut processing and wholesaling operations. As well as winning the National Fresh Produce category, Harvest FreshCuts was also nominated as a finalist in the overall ‘Supplier of the Year’ category, competing with some of Australia’s largest grocery suppliers and multi-national organisations. ‘Having a family owned business means we aren’t driven by the shareholder imperative,’ says Rob Robson, ‘We take a long term view of the business and we reinvest into people, sustainability, safety, training and quality.’ Harvest FreshCuts introduced Australian consumers to the notion of pre-washed, ready to eat salads and vegetables in 1995 and now supplies freshcut salads, vegetables and ready meals to Woolworths Supermarkets and other customers across the country. ‘In 1995, when the business was still wholesale, we looked at global trends and how they could be applied to Australia,’ says Rob. ‘There was a significant trend in the northern hemisphere of consolidation of supermarkets, which meant big growers and suppliers were able to supply them directly. In addition there was a growing consumer demand for convenience and value-added products. ‘They were the market drivers. From a business point of view we wanted a business had the potential to grow and be attractive to younger generations. We decided to become vertically integrated, which was a strategy for growth and sustainability. ‘The business has expanded in the last 15 years from wholesaling into value added processing and is now one of the most significant growers of fresh produce in the country. ‘This approach allows us to meet key competitive benchmarks for customer service, cost-effectiveness, and efficiency. ‘We have a vision of changing the way Australians eat by making high quality fresh produce extremely convenient. Our “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” (BHAG) is three million Harvest food experiences every day by 2020. We measure ourself against that goal every day – so far we are on track!’ The Woolworths Trade Partner Program is based on the principle of continuous improvement, while providing constructive feedback on combined performances in the most important areas of business. The program is conducted through the collation of scores and comments on each Trade Partner’s performance in a range of areas. ‘The depth of Harvest FreshCuts’ customer commitment is truly exceptional – especially considering that the entire business is fresh produce,’ says Rob. ‘Every weather event impacts either supply or demand – and often both at the same time. The team has been known to air freight raw material in order to meet orders.’ ‘We’ve been supplying Woolworths for over 30 years and are really delighted with this national recognition. Our team works tirelessly to meet customer expectations and this award is recognition of that.’
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