South Melbourne food tech company Fresho offering restaurant-quality produce to consumers
Wondering what to feed your dinner party guests now restrictions have eased? A South Melbourne business is delivering top-quality ingredients, usually sold exclusively at the best restaurants, diret to homes — for less than you’d pay in the supermarket.
Inner South
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First it was sashimi grade tuna and luscious lobster, now the COVID-19 outbreak has ensured produce usually reserved for top restaurants is just an online order away.
When the global pandemic hit, the hospitality industry ground to a halt almost overnight, leaving suppliers with a glut of high-end produce they couldn’t shift.
Now you can get your hands on the finest steaks and seafood originally destined for venues like Rockpool, Movida, Icebergs and Donovans, direct from suppliers thanks to South Melbourne-based food tech company Fresho.
Fresho was set up in 2016 to help reduce food waste through an online ordering program which helps alleviate time pressures and operational issues faced by the food industry, by linking restaurants with suppliers in one nifty app.
But co-founder James Andronis said forced restaurant closures meant anyone could now use Fresho to have restaurant-quality produce delivered to their door.
“Suddenly we were in this position where suppliers — our clients — lost a huge chunk of business overnight,” he said.
“Some of these suppliers are 50-year-old businesses or third-generation family-run operations and we wanted to continue to support them so we came up with a home-delivery concept.”
Mr Andronis said it had been so popular that in just three weeks more than 40,000 people had signed up to Fresho's online food marketplace.
The platform now has more than 80,000 people shopping for fresh high-end produce.
“It’s the same suppliers from Rockpool etc, the same produce that would normally go exclusively to those venues — some of the best restaurants in Melbourne — but now it's available to everyone,” Mr Andronis said.
“That same van, same piece of steak is now coming to your home.
“There are lots of benefits, from supporting local food businesses to the larger range and, obviously, the quality of the product.”
Mr Andronis said for $100, you’d get more, and better, produce than you’d get in the supermarket.
“People are buying things you just can’t get in supermarkets like scarlet prawns, rainbow Dutch carrots and flat iron steaks,” he said.
“We’ve got over 150 suppliers who are used to servicing the fussiest chefs in Melbourne and Australia doing home deliveries across the country.”
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Mr Andronis said the popularity of the service meant it would likely be continued after the COVID-19 lockdown was lifted.
“It’s supply and demand, if people want to keep buying from our suppliers they’ll keep delivering,” he said.
Margy Abbot, director of AMJ Produce – one of the suppliers connected with Fresho – said her thriving business went from strong to almost nothing in 24 hours as a result of COVID-19.
“When the government announced the … restrictions around restaurants, cafes and bars, we watched as our wholesale orders disappeared overnight,” she said.
“Without the introduction of direct-to-consumer offering, we wouldn’t have been able to maintain the business and our team.
“The speed at which Fresho has been able to build this has helped us quickly get back on a solid footing and we’re incredibly grateful.”
To find out more, visit fresho.com