Australian Organic Farmers
Carpendale, Queensland
Investing to double organic sweet potato and onion supply
Australian Organic Farmers is a group of producers and growers supporting the professional planning, packaging and distribution of a range of certified organic fruit and vegetables. They will be using the Woolworths Organic Growth Fund to support the installation of a new humidity-controlled storage facility. This investment will greatly enhance the shelf life of its sweet potatoes and onions, significantly reduce food waste, and provide farmers with a larger storage capability, enabling them to grow more produce.
Australian Organic Farmers has been supplying a variety of organic produce to Woolworths since 2003 including carrots, celery, sweet potato, onion and cauliflower.
Anthony Bauer is a fifth-generation farmer based near Carpendale in the Lockyer Valley in Queensland, and the brainchild behind the Australian Organic Farmers group. He grew up on a conventional farm, but at the ripe age of 21 was promoted to farm manager on the family property and saw an opportunity to change the way they were farming.
In the early 90s he made the transition to organic farming and since then has been successfully growing carrots, celery, sweet potato, onion and cauliflower. He launched the Australian Organic Farmers Group back in 2003 to provide like-minded farmers in the region with a centralised packing and distribution facility and a platform for sharing ideas.
“In Queensland, while the tropical weather generally provides good growing conditions, the humidity in some months makes storing fresh produce difficult, and often results in a lot of wasted product, particularly with our sweet potatoes and onions,” said Anthony.
“Through the Woolworths Organic Growth Fund, we will be able to install a humidity-controlled storage facility that will prolong the shelf life of our sweet potatoes and onions by four to five weeks, and will also enable us to work around weather events such as storms and heat waves. Ultimately this will help ensure consistency of produce to consumers,” said Anthony.
“A more reliable and larger storage facility will also enable Australian Organic Farmers to grow larger blocks, increasing the supply of sweet potatoes and onions by 100%”.
“We are grateful to Woolworths for this opportunity. Less waste ensures more sustainable farming, and by providing a consistent supply of product, that is significantly less impacted by weather patterns, enabling us to provide consumers with good quality organic produce, at a competitive price all year round,” Anthony concluded.