Griffith

Please tell us a bit about yourself 
At 31 I am a third generation citrus grower, both of my grandparents emigrated from Italy in the late 50’s to the Riverina area of Australia. My parents then farmed the same area, raising my brother, sister and myself on a property on the outskirts of Griffith. I worked on my parent’s property from a young age, growing my passion for farming, expanding the family property and meeting my wife Maria. Maria and I now have two children; Joseph who is three and Allegra who recently turned one. 

How did you come to be a grower?
My grandfather immigrated to Australia from Calabria in the 1950’s with his brother. They settled in the Riverina and began farming a small plot of land at Tharbogang. They became a part of a large Italian migrant community who transformed the Riverina area of Australia into the booming agricultural region you see today. 

My father joined the family farm in 1985 and expanded on the 50 acre block of land to now include a further 500 acres and have worked on the property for over 25 years.

I began working on the family farm at 15, helping my father with pruning and other farm duties. In 2012 we established our current citrus company Goldbridge Estates, expanding our property further. 

What makes you proud/Passionate to be an Australian grower?
Australia is a place of great opportunity, and equally great reward. As an Australian grower I am proud to know the quality of fruit produced in our country is ranked among the world’s best. It gives me great joy and satisfaction to coax a fruit plant through to maturity and watch it grow, for it then to be picked and enjoyed by Australian families is something I am extremely proud of.  

We have a young growers’ program – what advice would you give the next generation of growers?
Embrace new technologies; the growing industry is constantly evolving and growers that can adapt to new ways of doing things will be rewarded in the long run.  

Do you work the growing business with the family? 
Yes, I’m happy to say that Goldbridge Estates is a family run business.

People often think all fruits are created the same, but in reality, quality is hard to produce, can you tell us the hard work that goes behind the cultivation?
Citrus trees take five to eight years to grow into maturity and require a lot of patience and continual maintenance to thrive. During the growth phase the trees are carefully pruned, watered and the soil is enriched with nutrients to ensure that the best quality fruit is produced. At full maturity the fruit is picked and put through our strict quality control procedures, with only the best citrus sent out to our fresh fruit suppliers for consumers.