This Week In The Market – edition 192 – 14 August 2018

• New web resources available
• Fresh Five talks to Adrian Antonello
• Conditions perfect for solid mango crop

Market News

The Fresh Five

This week we talk to Adrian Antonello, pictured with one of his loyal customers, Frank, who visits every day.
1. Your role at the Melbourne Market: I’m General Manager at Antonello Produce. Our main lines are things like potatoes, onions, watermelons and pumpkins. We’ve been in the Market about 15 years now.
2. If you could only take three fruits or vegetables with you to a desert island, which would you take: Watermelon, because it’s wet. Bananas and apricots, because I enjoy them.
3. When was the last time you bought flowers for someone:  Probably Mother’s Day, I bought flowers for my wife.
4. Tell us something that is on your ‘bucket list’: I’d like to jump out of a plane, go sky diving. I love adrenaline sort of activities but I’m the father of young children at the moment, and they need me, so no risk-of-death activities until they’re grown. Maybe in 20-30 years I’ll do it when they don’t need me so much.
5. What do you most enjoy about working at the Melbourne Market: The people. Most of the people we deal with are pretty real. The relationships are quite straight forward, honest and open. It’s something you don’t always see.

New web resources

New resources are now available on the MMA website to help make doing business easier.

Event calendar – An event calendar has been added to the website to help businesses to better forward plan. The calendar shows all the Market’s major events and activities, as well as key dates and reminders, for the coming 12 months. Some of the items featured in the event calendar include public holidays, (with accompanying altered trading hours) Market events, like Children in the Marketdates and Christmas celebrations, as well as key reminders and due dates for renewals and invoices.

Business grants – Business grants can provide valuable resources for Market businesses but with an array of business grants available at any one time they can be hard to find. This new web page includes a list of grants currently available, that may be of interest to Melbourne Market businesses, with a short description, closing dates and appropriate links. Make sure to check back regularly as the page is always updated with new opportunities available.

Be sure to save both these pages in your web favourites for quick access.

Full site emergency evacuation drill

On Wednesday 22nd August at 10am, we will be conducting a full site emergency evacuation drill.
This drill will evacuate all tenants on Market land, including all administration building tenants, Buyers’ walk tenants, visitors, and subcontractors on site.
Upon hearing the site evacuation tones everyone will need to follow site evacuation procedures and follow the directions of Market Relations Officers.
The drill should take approximately 20 minutes.

Industry News

Box of durian causes airport to go into lockdown

Port Hedland International Airport went into lockdown after a suspicious box was found filled with notoriously pungent Durian fruit last week. Emergency services were called, flights delayed, and Hazardous Materials suits sent in to investigate the box, which triggered an evacuation of the airport.  Employees in the air freight centre smelled some strange odours and after being unable to identify what it was, they evacuated the airport and contacted the Department of Fire and Emergency Services.
Wikipedia writes that a durian fruit’s odour is best described as ‘pig-s**t, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock.‘
Earlier this year a rotting durian sparked fears of a major gas leak in a Melbourne library, leading to the evacuation of hundreds of students and dozens of firefighters donning breathing apparatus as they investigated the stench.
While most find the smell repugnant, the taste is supposed to be sweet and creamy. When in season, you can find durians sold at various stores within the Market but with a smell that can cause mass evacuations, it might be best to eat your durian outside!

Conditions perfect for solid mango crop

North Queensland mango growers are preparing for an early November harvest, with trees in full flower across the region. Conditions have been perfect for a solid mango crop with dry weather and nice cool mornings. Dale Williams, the owner of one of the North’s largest mango orchards, Euri Gold Farms, said he expected to start picking in early November.
The first trays of Kensington Pride Mangoes hit the Market a few weeks ago during July, the earliest we’ve ever seen mangoes.
With mangoes being a favourite among so many Aussies, and weather conditions being just right, we can look forward to a great mango season with their sweet smell filling the Market soon.

Key Dates

Wednesday 22 August       Full site emergency evacuation drill

Friday 31 August                Market 3rd Birthday celebrations

Ask the MMA

If you’ve got a question for the MMA email it to submissions@melbournemarket.com.au.