COMPANY PROFILE

The First Name in Avocados

Natures Fruit Company is the leading marketer of Avocados in Australia. In 1988, a group of avocado growers in the hinterland of Queensland's Sunshine Coast joined to form a cooperative packing and marketing operation.

In excess of 600,000 trays are today marketed annually under Natures Fruit Company brands representing production from several hundred strong co-operative members.

Our membership stretches from the Atherton Tablelands, through Bundaberg, the Sunshine Coast, Mt Tamborine and Toowoomba in Queensland and into the Northern Rivers, mid North and Central Coasts of NSW and down to Mildura in Victoria and into the south west of Western Australia.

All members strive to produce the best quality fruit to meet industry health and safety standards. Together our collective harvest will provide the volumes needed to attract customers and benefit members through lower production costs.

We believe that our management of all quality issues will be rewarded with premium prices and provide a sustainable competitive advantage to ensure the continued success of our company.

Company Profile 

In the year of the Bicentenary, 1988, a group of avocado growers in the hinterland of Queensland's Sunshine Coast joined to form a cooperative packing and marketing operation. 

Sunshine Fruit Co-op Ltd trades as Natures Fruit Company and is an established force in the market. Over the years, the co-operatives distinctive pink carton and symbolic trademark have become synonymous with quality avocados and its product much sought after in the nation's marketplace. 

In December 1997 the Steering Committee had an initial participation of 70 growers in the new venture. At the time many growers had small packing sheds with a need to upgrade equipment. Less time was now needed for packing and marketing and more time could be spent farming.

In early 2002, the cooperative members voted to change the structure of their organisation from a cooperative to an unlisted public company. In July 2002, this change was effected and the organisation’s name was changed to The Fruit Company Limited. However the company still trades under the name Natures Fruit Company.

The new Company still espouses the cooperative ideals and each members still has one vote irrespective of the size of the member’s orchard

Members are now able to invest more time and money in the real centre of production - their orchard. The cooperative approach benefits members by volume packaging and marketing of their produce at lower costs whilst achieving the highest market price.  Critical mass gained from volume throughput gives members strong brand identification in the market, which is difficult to achieve with smaller production runs. In today's rapidly changing business environment of fewer buyers and fewer sellers, growers not aligned to a marketing group or cooperative are being progressively disadvantaged by the market change.

Natures Fruit Company, with a background of over twelve years growth and success in marketing, is strategically placed to continue meeting the challenges of this changing marketplace.