Fresh Markets Australia and the Central Markets Association of Australia reveal Arnold’s in Wodonga, Victoria as the national people’s choice winner
Fresh Markets Australia (FMA) and the Central Markets Association of Australia (CMAA) have announced the 2023 ‘A better choice!’ Retailer of the Year, People’s Choice Award winners with Arnold’s in Wodonga, Victoria taking out the national award.
The ‘A better choice!’ Retailer of the Year, People’s Choice Award is designed to highlight the stores that received the most nominations from their local community as their favourite store, in celebration of the quality, freshness and service provided at Australian independent fruit and vegetable shops.
This year over 29,000 shoppers nominated 411 individual stores as their favourite fruit and vegetable shop.
Arnold’s is a shop with a rich history spanning back to 1892. The store, which maintains a strong sense of community in the city of Wodonga has now been named Australia’s favourite as voted by the Australian public after placing second nationally last year.
The store celebrated the award with an in-store event on 22 June featuring special guest Julie Goodwin, an ‘A better choice!’ ambassador.
Finishing second place nationally was Adelaide Fresh Fruiterers in Morphett Vale, South Australia, which won the award in both 2021 and 2022. Meanwhile Metro Fresh in Findon South Australia finished third.
The winners for each state included: Arnold’s for Victoria; Adelaide Fresh Fruiterers in Morphett Vale for South Australia; Hartleys Fresh Market and Trims Fresh, Merrylands for New South Wales; Erbacher’s for Queensland and The Healthy Bunch for Western Australia.
James Patrick, the national programme manager for ‘A better choice!’ said this year’s awards were the biggest yet.
“It’s a great cause for celebration. This year, Australian fruit and veg shops received more votes than ever. It’s a testament to the power of local Australian communities to support small businesses, particularly local growers, wholesalers and retailers,” said Patrick.
“Across the country, there’s been involvement from so many retailers who have been working tirelessly to bring their communities the very best quality fruit and vegetables at the best possible value.”
