Meet the Grower: Premier Fresh Australia

With over 90% of Aussie households grabbing a bunch during their weekly grocery shop, it’s really no surprise that people go absolutely bananas for bananas. Fortunately, our Produce Partners at Premier Fresh Australia help us meet the demand, producing 8.5 million kilos of bananas for ALDI every year.

Premier Fresh Australia has been supplying their premium Cavendish bananas to ALDI customers since we first opened our doors in Australia, way back in 2001. Located in Tropical Far North Queensland, Premier Fresh Australia has approximately 517 acres of banana farming land in the Innisfail area.

With over 310,000 banana trees growing fruit all year round, the Innisfail region is the perfect location to produce these yellow beauties. Premier Fresh Australia are able to grow their bananas for ALDI all year round in this area, thanks to its ideal tropical conditions (meaning lots and lots of rain and consistent warm temperatures).

Decades worth of farming knowledge 
Premier Fresh Australia Head Grower Mark Smith has been growing bananas for over 40 years, spending 22 years at the helm of growing operations at Premier Fresh Australia. It’s safe to say that he knows a thing or two about the beloved yellow fruits.

“With 40 years in the banana game, I can wholeheartedly say not much has changed during my time. Banana farming is still as physically demanding as when I started out. From assessing the growing fruit by eye to harvesting bunches of the trees by hand and everything else in between, banana farming isn’t for the faint of heart,” says Mark.

A Good Different partnership
Premier Fresh Australia has proudly supplied ALDI with its fresh bananas since 2001, with the team experiencing significant growth over the past 23 years.

Mark Smith says: “We have been working with ALDI since they opened their first Australian stores back in 2001. Our longstanding relationship with ALDI had allowed Premier Fresh Australia to really focus on what we do best, which is producing the best possible bananas for customers 365 days a year. 

“We are in constant communication and always forecasting for the future with ALDI, which allows us to better prepare for what’s ahead in a more effective way.”

The relationships ALDI has with its Produce Partners are built upon mutual benefit and understanding. Working in strong collaboration, ALDI’s long-term success is thanks to long-term Partners like Premier Fresh Australia. And the proof really is in the peaches, with ALDI being awarded Canstar Blue’s 2024 Most Satisfied Customers – Supermarket Fruits & Vegetables award for the fourth year running!

Matt Atley, Group Director, Fresh Produce at ALDI Australia, said: “The team at Premier Fresh Australia have been working with us at ALDI since the very beginning. They have grown alongside us over the past 23 years. To have Partners like Premier Fresh Australia expand and transform with us is so special.

“Premier Fresh Australia and their premium bananas are a beloved staple of many ALDI shoppers’ baskets every single week. Working in such strong collaboration with a Partner like Premier Fresh Australia enables us to bring the highest quality bananas to customers at the best possible prices day in and day out,” says Atley.

Protecting our environment one banana at a time
With a 90 year history of farming across Australia, the team at Premier Fresh Australia have stayed true their roots – focusing on growing the best nanas while supporting the local community and environment.

Given Premier Fresh Australia’s close proximity to the Great Barrier Reef, they are heavily invested in making sure their operations don’t have a negative impact on the reef and its surrounding waterways. All Premier Fresh Australia’s banana farms are Freshcare Environmental – Reef Assured certified, meaning on farm activities like biosecurity, waste and pest control are all sustainably focused and helping protect the reef from any harm.

“Helping reduce any waste or water runoff into the reef is super important to maintain the sustainability of our industry and the beautiful oceans that surround our farms. We also use highly sustainable to fertilise our plants and integrated pest management to treat predators in the most efficient and targeted way possible,” says Smith.

Growing the best bananas
Grown on Far North Queensland’s tropical Cassowary Coast for ALDI, Premier Fresh Australia’s bananas are harvested about 12 months after their initial planting.

“Many people are shocked to find out that a banana tree will only ever grow one bunch of bananas before it dies. To ensure we can grow bananas all year round we plant banana tissue culture, which are stems from parent banana plants, to continue producing in the first tree’s place once it bears fruit. The cycle continues over and over again, allowing us to grow more and more bananas,” says Smith.

Expert harvesters come along and inspect each tree and their distinctive coloured bags to know which bunches are ready to be chopped down. The bags are changed as the fruits grow, with a yellow bag signifying that these bunches are almost ready for harvesting.

The trees are then chopped down by hand, with the expert workers bringing the bunch down carefully on their shoulders. Once firmly resting on their shoulders, the banana bunch is cut off with a cane knife and placed on a padded trailer, ready for the packing shed.

“Once in the shed, the bananas are washed thoroughly, weighed and boxed up to be sent off to ALDI stores around the country. These processes are all done by hand by our workers in the packing shed. Their diligence and accuracy ensures the best bananas end up on the shelves, ready for customers to enjoy,” says Mark.  

This dedication to care in the packing shed, means high quality bananas for ALDI shoppers. Mark Smith says: “Growing bananas in the tropics has its challenges but I wouldn’t want it any other way. Seeing the bunches pride of place on ALDI shelves is such a special experience. After 40 years, bananas is all I really know, they have well and truly gotten into my blood.”