By CASEY NEILL
A CLYDE-BASED herb-grower is cultivating success.
Australian Fresh Leaf Herbs was on Wednesday 9 September named the Coles Rising Star Supplier of the Year at the Coles Supplier Awards.
The small business combines hydroponic and traditional farming to supply herbs year-round and produces more than 100,000 bunches of herbs and salad items each week.
Managing director Jan Vydra said the business started supplying Coles in 2008 through another vendor.
Last October it started working with Coles directly.
“We’ve grown from strength to strength ever since,” he said.
Mr Vydra said the award showed a new partnership had really been formed.
“It was great to get formal acknowledgement from Coles that they enjoy working with us,” he said.
He said the success was about transparency, honesty and shared core values.
The business supplies Coles with 17 varieties of fresh herbs – about 12 produced in Clyde.
Mr Vydra wants to expand this to micro greens, edible flowers and Asian vegetables.
“I’m really excited to see what the future can bring,” he said.
Mr Vydra and co-managing director William Pham developed Australian Fresh Leaf Herbs in 2008 after identifying an opportunity to consolidate the fragmented and unstructured herb industry.
They’d also noticed reality cooking shows’ rising popularity and more consumer interest in cooking generally.
The business now supplies major retailers, independent supermarkets, green grocers and the hospitality industry.
About 60 casual and full-time employees are based at the company’s eight-hectare Clyde headquarters.
To maintain herb supplies year round, the business also has hydroponic sites in Bundaberg and Mareeba in Queensland and supports more than 40 other growers nationally through training and development.
