Montague Farms is ready for stone fruit season, gearing up for what promises to be a record-breaking year, as it is set to grow and pack over 7 million kilograms of premium stone fruit this season.
In season 2024-25, Montague Farms will launch a number of advancements to its supply chain, aiming to enhance the quality and efficiency of their operations. At the Croc Sands facility in Katunga, Victoria, a new cold storage facility which allows fruit to be quickly cooled post-harvest, ensures optimal freshness will be in operation for the first time. This facility will significantly reduce the time between harvest and packing for fruit harvested, ensuring that the fruit arrives in peak condition to consumers nationwide.
In addition to the coolroom development, Montague Farms is commissioning a new production line at its packing facility at Narre Warren North, which will double its packing capacity.
This new production line will feature new sorting technology provided by Unitech in Italy. This technology will add a new dimension to grading accuracy of fruit. Finally, Montague Farms will introduce new AI grading technology as part of its partnership with Tomra Foods for the first time in 2024.
Montague Farms head of strategy and innovation, Rowan Little, said the team was incredibly excited about the 2024 stone fruit season.
“Not only are we expecting an increase in production as a result of the maturation of our plantings, but the quality of the fruit is truly exceptional this year,” said Little.
“Our team has worked hard over the winter months to deliver improvements to our cooling and packing facilities, we’re ready to deliver some of the best fruit we’ve ever grown.”
The team stated one of the standout products of the season is Nectara, a premium nectarine with a unique colour-coding system. The three Nectara subcategories that sit under the brand are: white nectarines – Sweet Silk, yellow nectarines – Tangy Punch, and yellow nectarines – Smooth Honey.
These nectarines are exclusively grown and packed by Montague Farms at Narre Warren North, where size, colour, and high brix (sugar) levels are carefully managed to deliver the best piece of fruit nature has to offer.
Montague Farms is also introducing the Color-Cot, a new hybrid of a plum and an apricot. The fruit will be available in limited quantities starting in the second week of December, offering a fresh new flavour to the stone fruit market.
The stone fruit season will run from November to April, featuring Montague Farms’ signature varieties:
- The Montague Tree collection – Premium Stonefruit
- Nectara nectarines
- Croc Eggs plums – only at Woolworths
- Color-Cot – all-new hybrid Plum/Apricot available in limited supply.
