It's the date the Gold Coast has been waiting for – when the family-owned and operated Harris Farm Markets will throw open their flavour-filled doors to their first Gold Coast store. And that date is THIS THURSDAY 18th November. That's when the famed local fruit, veg and grocery market will officially welcome shoppers to their store at Via Roma on the Isle of Capri. And there's a Cheese Lane!!
Harris Farm Markets co-CEO Tristan Harris, one of the three Harris sons who now run the company after their parents, David and Cathy Harris, retired, said he was excited to be finally opening on the Gold Coast. "The Gold Coast holds a special place in our hearts given we have spent so much time there as a family on holidays and to now be able to open on the Isle of Capri, in the heart of a city that values their fresh fruit, vegetables and food stories so highly, is really exciting. We are thrilled to share that we have employed over 70 local staff. Over 1500sqm, the Isle of Capri store will be home to the best quality food, with more than 500 lines of fruit and veg, as well as a gourmet grocery section of boutique local products, an extensive deli, more than 400 cheeses, a full premium butcher with nine butchers on hand, a fish market and a stunning bakery thanks to Bread Social coming on board!"
Here's a little of what shoppers can expect:
- FRUIT & VEG – more than 500 fruit & veg lines including organics. Some local fruit and veg favourites are Little Acre, our gourmet mushroom supplier from Brisbane, strawbs from the Sunshine Coast & Caboolture, Toowoomba avos (in season now!) as well as crisp lettuces and celery from Redland.
- IMPERFECT PICKS – this is Harris Farm's seasonal range of fruit and veg that might not look perfect from the outside but are as perfect and full of flavour as ever on the inside. The Imperfect Picks program helps reduce the fact that *25 per cent of Australian crops currently never leave the farm gate because they are a bit, well, unattractive, and do not meet the visual specifications of some supermarkets and consumers!
- RE-PURPOSEFUL PICKS - a delicious new range of products that give fruit, veg and groceries a second chance at life! Every year, Australians throw out 7.3 million tonnes of food. Food wastage is responsible for around 6% of total global greenhouse gas emissions (Foodbank AU. This range helps combat these statistics.
- CHEESE BOARDWALK – more than 400 cheeses, including a range of vegan and local stars Barambah, Woombye, Olympus and Casa Motta among others.
- BREAD SOCIAL - in thrilling news for bread lovers, the famous Bread Social from Tweed Heads and Byron Bay and creators of sourdough and pastries from local and organic ingredients, will have a counter at Harris Farm Markets. And in spectacular fashion, the bread will be baked daily on the mezzanine level and will conveyor-fall like a bread waterfall to the ground floor!
- MILK ON TAP – Queensland's multi-award-winning Maleny Dairy, Barambah Organics milk from the QLD/NSW border region, and Almond Milk from Mandole Orchard on Tap!
- HONEY ON TAP – the Gold Coast's famous and family-owned BioSota Manuka honey will literally be liquid gold in the store, with four taps allowing customers to our their own!
- NUT BUTTERS – self-serve Almond, Peanut and Cashew Butter. Customers can choose the nuts and make the nut butter in store, with nothing else added!
- PLANT-BASED RANGE – more than 150 plant-based products including Bite Me Fine Foods, Golden Falafel, Suzy Spoon, The Green Lion, Veglicious Kitchen and Wildly Good.
- NUTS & HEALTH FOOD – a range of almost 50 nuts and seeds, and more than 16 health foods including the organic pioneers Naked Byron Foods and Farmer Jo, both from Mullumbimby!
- LOOSE COFFEE & TEA – a range of loose coffee beans from locals Lund Coffee Roaster as well as 20 loose teas.
- PROPER MEAT BUTCHER – home to 9 in-house butchers who believe in doing things the proper way by offering cut to order meats (encouraging nose – to – tail consumptions) from livestock sourced locally including Spring Grove Fresh Food Company based in Casino and Hobbs Organic Chicken farm in Pittsworth.
- FISH IN THE FAMILY – A traditional Aussie fishmonger with a passion for quality and sustainable seafood, owned and operated by the Papacosta Family since 1976. Some local favourites coming into season are wild barramundi from Far North Cairns, Great Barrier Reef coral trout as well as fresh tiger prawns from the Goldie, just in time for summer.
- LOCAL STARS – some of South East Queensland's leading food names in Roza's Sauces, Frozen Sunshine Ice Blocks, Sweet Nectar desserts, My Berries and edible flowers, among many others.
Tristan said the store would also pay tribute to the Gold Coast lifestyle through its design and art installations, which include over 200 buoys painted by Surfers Paradise State School children, a suspended refurbished boat and artworks by Gold Coast contemporary artist Kiel Tillman!
"It will be a flavour-filled celebration of Queensland and Australian fruit, veg and grocery under one roof. Queensland is famed for the richness and range of fruit and veg grown across the state, and to be able to work with so many wonderful producers is one of our dreams."
In November 2020 Harris Farm Markets opened their first store in Queensland, after 30 years away from the state. This store at Clayfield Markets was the original one site Harris Farm owned 30 years ago before selling it to Carlo and Susan Lorenti who ran a fruit and veg market, and in a full circle story, Harris Farm bought it back and Carlo and Susan have stayed on as managers. The flagship store opened in West Village at West End in July this year and when the Isle of Capri store opens in November, more than 300 locals will be employed across the three Queensland stores, and food from over 320 Queensland growers will be showcased.
ABOUT HARRIS FARM MARKETS
Harris Farm Markets is a family owned and operated business. For 40 years Harris Farm Markets has been delivering goodness to Australian families with the core value and belief that Australian families should have the freshest and best available to them. That is why Harris Farm Markets is home to over 3,000 employees across 23 stores who work to deliver goodness to the hundreds of thousands of retail, wholesale and online customers who walk through its doors every week.
