Award celebrates excellence in crop forecasting, consistent quality fruit, communication and all-round performance
Central Queensland grower Groves Grown Tropical Fruits has won Piñata Farms’ Honey Gold Grower of the Year award at the annual Honey Gold Congress.
The congress, which was hosted in Melbourne on 19-20 May, brought together growers and their families to share outcomes of the 2024/2025 season and gain insights into the brand’s development.
Long-time growers of mangoes, avocados, lychees and carambola, Ian and Sandi Groves, son David and daughter-in-law Jacinta (a nurse, who helps during the harvest) received the Honey Gold Grower of the Year award for excellence in crop forecasting, consistent quality fruit, communication and all-round performance during the 2024/2025 Honey Gold season.
The business has been growing Honey Gold mangoes since 2001 and today has some 7000 trees spread over 18ha. In the past season, Groves Grown Tropical Fruits produced some 35,000 trays of Honey Gold mangoes with a high percentage premium packout.
“The entire Honey Gold network comprising about 25 growers in the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia, put in a huge effort to produce a premium crop and deliver accurate information to help Piñata Farms’ marketing team achieve the best possible results for growers,” said Ian Groves.
“The weather – before and during the harvest – was on our side last season and that helped with forecasting and getting great quality fruit to market. Our harvest, which usually runs for about three weeks from Boxing Day to mid-January, was right on time.”
Groves Grown Tropical Fruits has collaborated with Central Queensland University researchers for some ten years to trial the world’s first autonomous mango harvester and other advancements in mango production.
Professor Kerry Walsh and his research team test the autonomous harvester on about 20 mango trees left unharvested at the Groves’ property every season.
“Other research trials ongoing on Honey Gold blocks include flush, crop and flower monitoring aimed at altering harvest dates and predicting maturity,” Groves said.
Piñata Farms managing director Gavin Scurr said all third-party growers were exceptional growers who were committed to the Honey Gold brand.
“Our growers are a tight-knit group who collaborate and support each other to achieve the best possible outcomes,” he said.
“The Groves family business is consistently among the finalists because they are solid performers who always do an excellent job.”
