Island Berries grow production after deal with supermarket giant

A new partnership between a local Tasmanian supplier and a supermarket giant has resulted in stellar growth for the small condiment business.

Andre Richardson of Island Berries, which has started producing small goods for Coles. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

PRODUCTION staff have turned into IT gurus and productivity has grown 30 per cent at a small Tasmanian business after a supermarket giant came knocking for its stock.

Cambridge-based Island Berries, which sells cheeseboard condiments such as beetroot relish and quince paste, last month began stocking its products to 800 Coles stores nationwide.

Island Berries owner Andre Richardson said Coles is now his largest customer and the new partnership has allowed the company to hire five additional staff and upskill existing workers.

“We’ve had to rely on computer-work a lot more since stocking with Coles and its meant we’ve had to re-task some of our younger, more tech-savvy production staff into office roles,” he said.

“We’ve seen a 30-per-cent increase in turnover as a result of the new Coles partnership and our factory is almost at capacity,” he said.

“Coles saw our display at a farmers market and now we’re stocked in stores all over Australia. It’s given us the opportunity to grow our business and showcase Tassie produce right around the country.”

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Coles Chief Executive Commercial and Express, Greg Davis said Coles was proud to be working with local producers.

“We are always looking to inspire our customers with new and innovative products and we’ve worked hard with producers and suppliers to add more than 1200 products to our Own Brand range in the last financial year,” he said.

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