Reducing waste is a winner for My Berries

Successfully finding a way to reduce food waste on berry farms by producing high-quality products earnt My Berries the North Harbour Award for Advanced Manufacturing Excellence at the 2023 Moreton Bay Business Excellence and Innovation Awards on July 7.

See the full list of winners here.

My Berries produces safe and sustainably sourced frozen and freeze dried Australian soft fruits, choosing ripe, delicious soft fruit surplus to the supermarket trade.

The business, established in 2015, is co-owned and directed by Allison and Stuart McGruddy who have backgrounds in berry farming, hospitality, industry regulation and a passion for food sustainability.

Their double-pronged business reduces food waste while value-adding to fruit that may have been otherwise discarded and providing Australian families a safe alternative to cheap imports.

My Berries, which is based in Caboolture, has grown its distribution channels to reach retail and manufacturing customers locally, nationally and overseas.

Allison says she is elated to win the North Harbour Award for Advanced Manufacturing Excellence.

“We work hard and we’re very passionate about solving seasonal waste that occurs on local farms and we’ve worked really hard to instigate innovation in manufacturing, particularly in advanced manufacturing to solve that waste,” she says.

“The purpose of our existence is really to create a value-added product from seasonal waste that occurs on farms. We feel there, more often than not, is a wonderful product to be created from that edible waste. We’re really delighted to be providing Aussie families with an Aussie-grown product.

“It’s the perfect berry-growing region. In Moreton Bay, we grow blackberries, strawberries and raspberries absolutely perfectly and we’re delighted to be part of a solution for farmers local to us and creating a home for every piece of fruit that doesn’t make it to supermarket shelves.”

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