Over 500 delegates come together in Tasmania for Berries Australia event
Australia’s berry industry and visitors from across the world descended on Hobart, Tasmania 24-27 February to take in insights from multiple farm tours and an extensive conference programme.
The event kicked off with two tours spanning fresh produce operations in the north and south of the state, with the likes of Driscoll’s, Hillwood Berries, Reid Fruits, Piñata Farms, Willie Smith’s Apple Shed, R&R Smith and Hansens Orchards opening their doors.
Then, more than 500 delegates took in a packed agenda at Wrest Point Hotel Casino for the final two days of the event. Speakers covered a range of topics including market trends, trade opportunities, technology developments, technical growing advice and updates from the latest levy-funded research projects.
Highlights included keynote speaker Rachael Robertson, who shared the leadership lessons from her time in Antarctica. Fruitnet’s managing director Europe, Mike Knowles, delivered a breakdown of global berry trends and John Gray, managing director of Scotland’s Angus Soft Fruits provided an international perspective on berry growing and the development of the UK berry market.
Excellence from across the Australian berry industry was also recognised with the inaugural Berry Industry Awards. Winners were announced at the Driscoll’s Gala Dinner & Awards evening and included Agronomist of the Year – Stuart Doyle from AgVista; Next Generation Award – Rebecca Scurr from Piñata Farms; Industry Impact Award – Tyler Scofield from Driscoll’s Berries; Grower of the Year - Anthony Yewers from Berry Sweet Strawberry Farm; Lifetime Contribution Award – Apollo Gomez.
Two awards were presented during the conference, the Supply Chain Champion Award was awarded to Freshcare and Damien Clothier from Mountain Blue was chosen as Researcher of the Year.
Rachel Mackenzie, executive director at Berries Australia, congratulated all those involved in making the event a success.
“From the Berries Australia team, we are so grateful to the delegates for coming along. I’d like to thank our platinum sponsors Mountain Blue and Perfection Fresh, all of our other sponsors, speakers, trade show delegates and all of the people involved to make this a success,” said Mackenzie.
