The Fresh Five
This week we talk to Alfonso Grillo or as some of you may know him as, ‘Fonz’.
 1. Your role at the Melbourne Market: I work for LaTorre’s Fruit and Vegetable Wholesalers, and do a bit of everything really, sales, picking orders, whatever needs to be done.
2. If you could only take three fruits or vegetables with you to a desert island, which would you take: I’d take watermelon for hydration. Pineapples because they have a good shelf life and last so long, and any type of berry because I absolutely love berries.
3. When was the last time you bought flowers for someone: I buy flowers every single week from here in the Market, a bunch for my wife and a bunch for my 5-year-old daughter. I sometimes think I’ll feel for the bloke who ends up with my daughter, he’s got some pretty high standards to live up to when she’s used to having a bunch of flowers bought for her every week. I enjoy buying them both flowers, it’s nice to have flowers in the house, they bring a sense of life to your home.
4. Tell us something that is on your ‘bucket list’: I want to take my kids to Disneyland. I don’t really care which one, just any Disneyland. I know the kids would just love it, and I would too, I’m a big kid myself.
5. What do you most enjoy about working at the Melbourne Market: It’s a community. You can’t find a job anywhere like you get here at the Market. It’s like being back in high school, you’ve got so many friends and you see so many different faces, there are thousands of people in here every day and you make so many connections. It’s a great place to come to work. |
There are lots of government grants available to help businesses achieve their goals. But finding where they are and whether your business is eligible takes a lot of legwork.
Melbourne’s North Food Group (MNFG) are offering free strategic business reviews to members. The business reviews are conducted by food sector expert John Lochery and will involve at least 6 hours of John’s time with recommendations for implementation. Following on from the review, MNFG members can then engage Paul Smarrelli, another expert in the food sector, to provide an additional 10 hours of time to build on John’s strategic review to conduct a performance business review. For MNFG member’s the cost of Paul’s review will be just $1,000. The package of John and Paul’s time would normally cost at least $5,000.
