Sustainability

Let’s Start by Going Local

We want to support local to do our bit to sustain our regional communities to keep our town vibrant, with work opportunities right here for all. And, we have some of the best fresh produce in the world right here in the South West and in WA. We’re really proud of our farmers and producers and want to showcase their foods, close to where they are grown, so that locals and visitors can enjoy them.

All the way, from the start of our business, preference has been given to local contractors and suppliers.

Here are some of them:

  • Perkins Builders and all their local subcontractors built our premises
  • Globe Signs
  • GeoBAY Cabinets
  • Activ Industries- our fresh produce display bins
  • Naturaliste Fabrications – our display shelves
  • KBR Kitchens
  • Arcus Refrigeration
  • IT – Apex computers
  • Telephones – Fairtel
  • Geobay Butchering Company supplying our bulk meat sourced from the South West
  • Dirty Clean Food and Dardanup Butchering Co, Mondo Meats., Eurostyle for retail meats
  • Fresh local fish from Endeavour sourced direct from fishera
  • Professional Cabling Services
  • The Trolley Shop

We employ approximately 30 local people, including 8 chefs in our kitchens. As we grow, with your support, we will employ more locals. In addition to Western Growers Fresh employing more people, our local butcher and other suppliers have employed additional staff to be able to supply us. Out ‘n About Eggs and Busselton Eggs have even employed more ‘girls’ to lay for us!

Working together; we will do our very best to contribute to the Busselton community.

Reducing food waste

Once in landfill, food waste breaks down and emits greenhouse gases, including not only carbon dioxide (CO2) but methane (CH4) – a gas 25 times more potent than CO2.

In fact, the greenhouse gases produced by food waste in Australian landfill each year is equivalent to the emissions of Australia’s steel and iron ore industries combined!

Therefore we feel this is our biggest focus area as we can have control over this! We manage our business with less than 2% waste across the board. Having a kitchen onsite, we cook, preserve, dehydrate foods to ensure they do not get wasted. Naturally there is some we cannot utilise; the fresh produce waste goes to a local piggery and close-to-code meals and groceries go to the women’s refuge. Very little goes into landfill.

The Environment

Using the sun’s power – We have Solar panels on our nice big roof – to power those fridges that keep our produce fresh. We love how something so hot (the sun) can keep our produce so cold! We’ve chosen low energy appliances and sourced our goods from ethical businesses. We’re focusing on low food miles for our stocks!

Let’s Talk About Packaging

We would love to go completely plastic free, but your health is important and so there are regulations to ensure food remains fresh. This means we need to package meat and many other perishable items in plastic.

However, we have researched the most sustainable way we can present our produce to you. Where we can, we use paper, cardboard, pulp items, glass jars and recyclable plastics. We aim to use packing that will break down in landfill or items you can send to a recycling facility. We work hard to work with suppliers and choose lines that follow the same ethos we do.

Our sturdy cardboard boxes used for online shopping can be reused or recycled as you see fit. Cardboard – and the trees they come from – are infinitely renewable, meaning that we have less impact on the environment from harvesting, water and energy use. Further, the renewable plantation forests used for box production play a key part in removing and storing Carbon Dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.

We supply brown paper bags at the Fruit and veg section, please choose these or bring your own bags. We choose produce loose,  unless it is delicate – like berries, which need to be protected in a punnet.