WA avocado pioneer Jennie Franceschi named Telstra Australian Business Women of the Year

WA avocado pioneer Jennie Franceschi was named the Corporate and Private Award winner at Telstra Australian Business Women of the Year 2017 awards ceremony in Melbourne in late November, for her groundbreaking agriculture company, Fresh Produce Alliance. Last month she was named the WA Telstra Business Woman of the Year.

Telstra executive Joe Pollard said Ms Franceschi had a strong understanding of the generational challenges of farming in Australia, and her goal to turn agricultural waste into growth.

Jennifer Franceschi has been in the avocado industry since her first summer job in 1974, working in her family’s commercial orchard. After opening her own orchard in Pemberton, getting involved within the state association and the industry board for avocado growers, Jennifer and her husband launched their own packing facility – Advance Packing and Marketing Services – together with two other growers.

In 2016, they launched the Fresh Produce Alliance (FPA), a processing facility that champions a sustainable agriculture ecosystem. Using innovative technology, such as high-pressure processing and individual quick freeze, FPA sources fresh, non-GMO and slightly imperfect avocados from growers and family farms all over Australia, ripens them until they’re at the peak of perfection, then processes them to produce “naturally healthy, delicious, real food that people love”. Jennifer and her team have developed an avocado range, a baby food range, and will soon bring a low-GI range to market. Products are sold in the domestic market as well as internationally. 

Fresh Produce Alliance began shipping its Avovita (100% pure Avocado puree) frozen avocado pods to the Japanese market in October 2017, and they are currently being sold in high-end supermarket chains. These convenient packs contain 100% pure, ripe Australian avocado with no dairy, additives or preservatives, thanks to Fresh Produce Alliance’s unique HPP technology, which locks in the avocado’s natural colour and taste.

Versatile, ready-to-use and loaded with natural goodness, Avovita 100% pure Avocado is the perfect substitute for dairy in smoothies, spreads, baking, dips and desserts. FPA is also looking for the opportunity to export HPP fresh juices, sustainably made from fruit and vegetables that would otherwise be discarded, into the Japanese market. 

For more information on Avovita, please see: http://www.avovita.com.au/

Photo: Jennifer Franceschi at the Telstra awards ceremony in Melbourne.