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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-02-14 Daily Xml
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ADELAIDE PRODUCE MARKET

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (16:09): On Tuesday 7 February it was my privilege to join His Excellency the Governor and many dignitaries and corporate sponsors for the official opening of the North and South Market Square Canopies, an important milestone in the history of the Adelaide Produce Market, the biggest capital investment since the opening of the market 25 years ago.

I would like to acknowledge the commitment and dedication of the board of the Adelaide Produce Markets Ltd and CEO Angelo Demasi for his efforts in overseeing the canopy project. It takes much work to balance the often competing interests of fruit and vegetable wholesalers, retailers, growers, providores, transport companies and other market users. Angelo and his staff go about this role quietly and efficiently with very good results.

The canopy project was delivered on time and on budget while still operating the market with minimal disruption on a day-to-day trading basis—quite an achievement. It is also appropriate to acknowledge the contribution of members of the board of directors: immediate past chairman Sam Christodoulou; former chairman Des Lilley; former director Dino Musolino; current chair, David Schirripa, and deputy chair Nic Minicozzi; and the current directors Jim Demasi, Greg Griffin, David Trosti, Michael Ruggiero, Danny De Ieso, and in particular Pat Scalzi who has served on the board since its establishment in 1987.

Many would remember the old East End Markets off Rundle Street in the city, the old Adelaide Fruit and Vegetable Exchange. It operated until 1988. Many people at the opening have fond memories of that place and would recall the exact spot where their families first plied their trade.

It is hard to imagine now but until 1988 forklifts, trucks and pallets of produce would be all over Rundle Street, East Terrace and Grenfell Street until about 7 o'clock Monday to Friday. While Adelaide was asleep the East End was a hive of activity. However, the time did come when the market was bursting at the seams and the East End was too small and simply too difficult to operate out of the CBD. More operating space and modern facilities were needed to meet current needs and, in any event, the market needed to relocate to make way for the redevelopment of the East End.

Not only did the East End Market community have a capacity for hard work, they were very gutsy in deciding they were going to build a new market somewhere, whatever it took. In the late 1980s, economically, times were not good. Despite all this, the produce community raised the capital from its own pockets and built the market, the first privately owned and operated fresh produce market in Australia.

Twenty-five years on from that point and much has changed, not just in terms of modern technology and communications but even in the industry with the development of cool chain logistics, modern refrigeration and produce management, food safety and organic certification, and so many new fruit and vegetables and other food product lines being offered by independent fruit and veg retailers that the broader industry has had to change to survive and prosper, promoting South Australia's clean and green image.

Adelaide Produce Markets Ltd is an unlisted public company. It is the provider of a place where the market trading activity occurs. It is a landlord and service provider to the industry. Its role is a relatively small but essential link in the industry chain in terms of getting a piece of fruit and vegetable from paddock to plate. Nonetheless, the board made a decision in 2009 to spend several million dollars to build the north and south canopies.

The then board had the foresight to realise that covering the market square was critical to improving operations and, ultimately, the quality of fruit and vegetables that South Australians consume—and quality is everything. Whether it be in terms of the food we eat or the service we receive in any shop or the design of any product, quality is very important. We all know quality when we see or experience it and being committed to quality means constantly striving to improve in every manner and every detail.

The APM continues to look for every avenue to create positive change, not only in terms of the infrastructure, but also in terms of the ancillary services offered, work practices and OH&S. Quality in that broader sense demands continuing change and improvement. The APM is to be commended for its proactive leadership.

Fruit and vegetable growers, wholesalers, providores and retailers face many challenges. In particular, the retail environment is fiercely competitive. Food retailing and consumption patterns have changed a great deal in the past 20 years or so. Whilst APM continues to make a strong contribution to promoting the consumption of fruit and vegetables through extensive radio and TV coverage to educating children through Crunch Bunch mascot characters, a cohesive and unified promotion strategy by the entire fresh produce sector nationally has eluded the industry to date.

If the promotion of fruit and vegetable merchandise from independent fruit and vegetable retailers and independent supermarkets is not made a priority APM and others like it around Australia will go into a slow decline. One only has to look at what has occurred in the independent liquor and petrol retailing industries for examples of what may happen. The milk and dairy industry were the focus of sustained price cutting some months ago. Given the announcement of one of the supermarket chains last week that fruit and vegetables are in their sights, it is not hard to guess what may happen next.

Like the challenge faced by the East End Market community in the late 1980s who risked not having a place to trade, the APM community and the produce industry nationally now needs to come together to find a way of promoting what is intrinsically the healthiest food on the planet and, most importantly, that diversity and quality in terms of what consumers buy for their fresh food items really matters. Fresh, seasonal produce is good eating and good for you. With the number of cooking and lifestyle programs on TV at any time, we cannot be lacking ideas for the marvellous array of produce at our choice.

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