Sydney Markets have announced the launch of the Fresh Awards, a program designed to recognise various sectors of the fresh produce industry across NSW and the ACT.
The Fresh Awards are the result of a culmination of the Sydney Markets long running awards programs: the Greengrocer and Florist of the Year Awards, as well as the Fruit & Vegetable and Flower Grower of the Year Awards.
The revised program builds on the success of the previous programs with the introduction of new categories including one designed specifically for bloggers. The bloggers award was created to recognise the contributions of the blogging community by drawing attention to, and encouraging support of independent fresh produce producers.
“Since the Sydney Markets awards programs began, we have been invested in supporting independent greengrocers and florists to achieve and maintain the highest standards in all aspects of their business, from the quality of the produce they purchase at the markets, through to the end customer’s experience at the checkout,” says Brad Latham, CEO of Sydney Markets Limited.
Retail support manager at Sydney Markets, Sue Dodd says that the awards have enjoyed great success over the last 13 years.
“Through them [the awards] we have been able to shine a light on the efforts and achievements of retailers and growers,” says Dodd. “But this next evolution gives us the opportunity to bring all those achievements together and really turn it into a celebration of our industry.”
The Fresh Awards will comprise five overarching categories:
- Greengrocer of the Year
- Florist of the year
- Fruit & Vegetable Grower of the Year
- Flower Grower of the Year
- Blogger Awards
The Greengrocer of the year award categories will include:
- The Greengrocer of the Year
- The Service Excellence Award
- The Retail Presentation Award
- The Knowledge Action Award
- The Small Business Award
- The Medium Business Award
- The Large Business Fresh Award
- The Employee of Choice Award
Winner will be announced at the inaugural Fresh Awards event in mid-2016. For more information, click here.