Rugby Farms scores national honour

Not one for media attention, Matt does his best to keep a low profile, but as one of the industry's leading growers his reputation for excellence finally caught up with him at the Ausveg National Awards for Excellence when he was named Grower of the Year.

"Rugby Farms is not just about Matt Hood," said Matt, a director of the family business.

"I am a part of a large organisation which has a lot of dedicated staff who we rely on heavily.

"While we don't desire for awards, its satisfying to be recognised."

Rugby Farms is steeped in history, having been established more than a century ago by Matt's grandparents in Gatton, west of Brisbane.

Matt's parents David, 75, who is still active in the business, and Janice, continued the tradition, with Matt and his brother Dan, taking on lead roles in the business in 2000.

Over the years, the farm has grown a myriad of crops including potatoes, onions, fruit, lucerne and cotton and today focuses on sweet corn and beans and traditional leaf varieties.

Striving to provide a year-round supply, Rugby Farms has sustainably expanded over the past decade into four main growing areas ((xFB))û the Lockyer Valley, Darling Downs, Southern Downs and North Queensland (Burdekin and Ayr).

It's a massive undertaking to produce 5000 hectares of vegetables each year, deliver produce into every capital city except Perth every day and manage a staff of between 450-500 people.

With expansion has come change ((xFB))û a bigger, better marketing team, technology and a dedicated focus on quality and quantity.

"We are very active at the moment, with several irons in the fire," the father-of-four said.

"The technology is certainly there but its practical application into our daily operations falls short and that's an area we are focussing on."

Matt firmly believes the foundation of the business's success in recent years has been its relationship with Rugby Farm's main customer, Coles.

"We work very hard on our relationships with our customers and our ability to meet their needs," Matt said.

Matt said having a "home" for the majority of stock was a critical component of a horticultural operation.

"The relationship is not an easy one, it is in fact very challenging especially as Coles continues to raise the bar on their expectations of us as a supplier as they are pressured to meet those of their customers," Matt said.

"As a vegetable farmer you cannot go out and produce 5000 hectares of crop a year without having a committed home for the majority of this stock.

"Traditionally what a farmer grew was driven from the bottom up where as now it is driven from the top down.

"In other words you need to have a secure home and market for whatever you produce, both type and volume.

"You can no longer just go out and grow something."

Aside from Coles, Rugby Farms also tries to support the wholesale markets and independent retailers as best they can, and processors.

Supplying fresh produce into the kitchens of Australian households is a weighty responsibility and one Matt and his family take very seriously.

"With the volumes we produce, we certainly feel a responsibility to ensure we supply produce that is healthy and safe," Matt said.

"Our focus has changed from the old farming days with consumers more aware of where their produce is coming from. Our biggest challenge now has become to consistently produce the volume of the quality that our customers require fresh on a daily basis no matter what the weather conditions that mother nature throws at us."