The family-owned and operated Harris Farm Markets have opened their flavour-filled doors to their first Gold Coast store: at Via Roma on the Isle of Capri.
Over 1500sqm, the Isle of Capri store is home to more than 500 lines of fruit and veg, 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. Here’s a little of what shoppers can expect (more opending day imagery available on request):
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.
CHEESE BOARDWALK – more than 400 cheeses, including a range of vegan and local stars Barambah, Woombye, Olympus and Casa Motta among others.
BREAD SOCIAL – the famous Bread Social from Tweed Heads and Byron Bay have a counter. 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 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!
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.
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 – a range of loose coffee beans from locals Lund Coffee Roaster.
PROPER MEAT BUTCHER – home to 9 in-house butchers 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, owned and operated by the Papacosta Family since 1976. In season are FNQ wild barramundi, Great Barrier Reef coral trout as well as fresh local tiger prawns.
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.
The store pays tribute to the Gold Coast through its design and art installations, which include over 200 buoys painted by students from Surfers Paradise State School and murals by Gold Coast contemporary artist Kiel Tillman
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,” said Tillman.
“We are thrilled to share that we have employed over 70 local staff.“
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.