My name is Alana. I am born and bred in Far North Queensland where I currently reside in banana country!

My role as banana technical supply manager focuses on getting bananas from paddock to plate ensuring food safety and retailer standards are met.

I work with growers on quality improvement and continue to manage the Ecoganic® certification program for the Ecoganic® Red Tip® Bananas. I am passionate about working on our exclusive banana varieties (Ecoganic® Red Tip® Bananas, Little Gem® Bananas and Havana™ Bananas) to support growers in diversifying their businesses, to target key industry challenges and to engage consumers in a unique eating experience.

The thing I like most about working here is the teams and the people. The support and collaboration of skills and experience within the teams provides an opportunity to learn daily.

Since working at Perfection Fresh I’ve had the opportunity to lead my own product trials, attend training and key industry events, extend my networks and receive fantastic guidance and mentorship from senior leadership.

I grew up on a vegetable farm in Werribee, Victoria and have been connected to fresh produce from a very young age.

At Perfection Fresh, I look after Broccolini and brassica produce. My role can be quite fluid. I have a great team who work really hard, and my role is to help all stakeholders achieve their needs.

I engage with stakeholders right across the entire supply chain, from seed breeders, nurseries, growers, and our significant customers.

In short, I make sure our produce is always available where and when customers want to buy them.

Broccolini has a high profile, and the team is sometimes in the spotlight. It certainly keeps us motivated. Things generally run to plan, but when things go wrong there is lots of support from many across the business.

When I meet new people, I do find most have a positive Broccolini experience they wish to share.

Each season brings new challenges, and you always continue learning. Fresh produce is never dull. I love the fast-paced environment and the challenges mother nature; our suppliers, and customers throw at us.

I love the challenge of exceeding our customer and supplier expectations, and setting and achieving goals, whether sales or quality targets.

Seeing our products looking fantastic on store shelves and in people’s baskets, I also get a buzz.

Supplier and product development is exciting. Bringing a new supplier into the business or a new product to the customer and seeing it flourish is rewarding.

My name is Judy and I’m a financial planning and analysis analyst at Perfection Fresh. Originally from China, my journey in Australia began in 2003 when I commenced my studies at the University of Adelaide. I've had the privilege of being part of the Perfection Fresh family for the past decade.

Professionally, I have experienced substantial growth and progression during this time. Initially, I commenced as an assistant accountant. After six months, I transitioned to the head office where I specialised in payroll for approximately 12 months before rising to the role of financial accountant. After two years, I was honoured with my current role, where my responsibilities including budgeting, forecasting, board reporting and financial analysis.

The most enjoyable part of my journey at Perfection Fresh has been the opportunity to work alongside incredibly talented individuals. They have helped me learn and grow, both personally and professionally.

I have been provided me with opportunities for skill development and professional advancement. Through comprehensive training programs and the chance to lead various projects, I've been able to enhance my skills and expertise. Additionally, the flexibility to explore different roles tailored to my strengths has been invaluable in my career progression.

As a working mother of two teenage daughters, I am grateful for the flexibility in work hours. This enables me to effectively balance my professional commitments with family responsibilities.

As the Head of Business Applications, my role involves implementing, improving and maintaining all the software that we use to keep our business running. Each day brings new challenges, and urgent tasks seem to pop up out of nowhere.

I began my career as a software developer in the early 2000s, initially working on the fresh produce team at a software company. My first task was to collaborate with our then client, Perfection Fresh.

I joined Perfection Fresh 9 years ago, wanting to apply my unique blend of skills and experience in both software development and fresh produce.

Currently, I focus on striking a balance: maintaining our existing systems which have grown in scale and complexity as the business has grown, while introducing new solutions that will enable that growth to continue well into the future.

My name is Sarah, and I am the human resources for our farms, based in Two Wells, South Australia.

I am originally from New Zealand. I have been in Australia and with Perfection Fresh for eight years.

What attracted me to Perfection Fresh was the chance to work in a large, diverse fresh produce organisation, where it appeared no two days were the same.

The opportunities I have encountered, and the growth Perfection Fresh has gone through, almost make it seem like a new organisation; we are constantly evolving. There has not been a dull day and the exposure across the different facets of HR has been truly amazing.

My role requires me to partner with the farms team to provide HR advice, guidance, and support. In late 2022 I was lucky enough to go on a recruitment trip to Vanuatu. During this trip we not only spoke with more than 500 potential PALM workers for our farms, but we got to visit workers who had completed seasons with Perfection Fresh and were now enjoying the fruits of their hard work. It was humbling and so special to be welcomed into their homes that they were so proud to share.

Knowing that Perfection Fresh played a part in helping them achieve their goals, is something I will never forget. We are so lucky to have such a diverse culture here at Perfection Fresh.

The backgrounds, the stories, the experience that everyone brings makes it so unique. I’m lucky to have a great team around me and have developed great relationships.

My role has allowed me to develop as a HR professional. Not only by giving me the opportunities to expand my knowledge and skills but supporting me with external development, too. The leaders I have been lucky enough to work with have shared their knowledge and allowed me to be the HR manager I am today. I am thankful for the growth I have seen in myself from this support. As all working parents would know, the juggling act that is parenting and working is relentless, as mums we are also usually the default parent.

Being the default parent and working full-time has only been able to be a reality for me due to the flexibility and support that Perfection Fresh has shown me. I am a mum first and being able to work from home if my daughter is sick or leave early for sports days or kindergarten pick up has eased the pressure of trying to be everything to everyone.

We are people beyond work and the fact that Perfection Fresh acknowledges and support that has not only made the transition to parenthood easier, but also cemented why I chose to work here.

My name is Patricia Simbolo and my role is in the glasshouses harvesting Qukes® and tomatoes. I’m part of the PALM scheme, which allows people, like me, from Pacific nations to come and work in Australia.

Under my PALM visa, I can come to Australia for between six to nine months, which is known as a season, and then I return to Vanuatu.

This my fourth season with Perfection Fresh. I joined Perfection Fresh with the intention of building on my horticulture skill set, securing viable employment and being a part of a friendly team.

Away from work, I am a mother of five children, and through my work I have been able to financially support them throughout their school life to ensure they have been provided with educational opportunities. This has paved the way towards a happy and successful life in Vanuatu for them.

Three of my children are now employed in their own jobs and two are currently at university studying business management and civil engineering. I continue to enjoy my work and I would describe my work team as my ‘work family’ because of the way we are with each other. I plan to return to Australia for a fifth season.

This time my focus will be on completing my next life ambition: to purchase land and build my own home for my family in Vanuatu.