Farmer Bob hits heights

Mr North, who has been owner for only 14 months, entered the shops in the Sydney Markets 2016 Fresh Awards and they’ve come away with three out of a possible 16 finalist spots.

They’ve both been named in the greengrocers’ Best Small Business category, and the Phillip St shop in the Knowledge in Action category.

Mr North is also the owner of fruit-and-veg delivery-only service Paradise Fresh, and said he was “pleasantly surprised and quite shocked to be finalists”. 

“We opted in with both shops just for the valuable feedback to enable us to improve, as we’re relatively new to shopfront retail,” he said.

To make the finals, the shops were mystery-shopped once a month for 12 months and assessed on cleanliness, presentation, freshness and knowledge.

They were inspected by industry professionals and staff quizzed on their product knowledge – such as “Where do tangelos originate from?” and “When is the growing season for asparagus?”

The Knowledge in Action category is about how well a store can answer customer questions on where an item was grown, how to store it, and how to cook or use it.

Mr North, wife Vicki, and four store managers will attend the awards ceremony on July 20 at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art.

“I’d say our chances of winning are very slim – what are the chances of taking out an award against retail professionals of 30 years’ experience?” he said.

For the past few weeks, Mr North has been publishing Facebook posts comparing the cost of a trolleyload of produce from Farmer Bob’s with one from supermarkets.

He said he would soon start offering a guarantee to refund customers five times the difference if Farmer Bob’s wasn’t the best value.

The Sydney Markets 2016 Fresh Awards cover NSW and ACT, and also recognise florists, growers and bloggers.

Armidale Market Fresh is a finalist in the Service Excellence category.