Aussie Post Goes Beyond Parcels, Ventures into Fresh Produce Delivery

After introducing in 2011 the 24/7 postal services for parcels ordered online, the Australia Post is taking its service to another level by linking farmers and consumers.

The post office is pilot testing Farmhouse Direct which links the fruit and vegetable producers with 10.7 million consumers on the agency's list. Under the programme, Australian post would deliver the fresh produce to the doorsteps of consumers who order fruits and veggies from the Internet.

To link 70 producers and their 680 products with Aussies, Australia Post set up the Web site farmhousedirect.com.au where farmers can set up their shop for free and set their own prices. The producers are grouped according to region, product and local farmers markets.

Farmers prepare the shipment ordered via the Internet which is picked up by Australian Post from the farmer or turned over to a depot and the post office delivers the fresh produce.

The agency is set to officially launch the programme by the end of 2012. However, it has encouraged local farmers to participate in the trial run.

"It's silly not to get involved. As growers we are desperate to get a better price for the 2,000 tonnes of fruit we produce each year. Our margins are squeezed in the traditional routes. Though this is more work, but it gets us a bigger percentage of the sale price," The Herald Sun quoted citrus farmer Tim Arnold.

Farmers have complained that they are being squeezed by supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths which initiated price wars that forced producers to reduce the price tags on their fruits and vegetables. With the Australia Post initiative, the middleman is eliminated and the farmers are freed from the clutches of the supermarket giants.

Despite the lower volume of mailed letters handled due to growing preference for email and text messages, Australia Post does not consider technology an enemy which takes away its business, but a new source of income through innovative programmes that tap into ecommerce.

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