The business manager at the Sweeter Banana Co-operative, who has been coming to the annual trade show since its inception in 2021, knows she’s in the right place to do so, too.
“The key thing is that all the right people we want to talk to are there,” she says. “Just being in the room gives you that opportunity to reconnect and talk to them about new products in a really informal setting.”
Always looking for ways to add value to their beautiful bananas, the passionate growers behind the Carnarvon-based cooperative have another treat to share with those who swing by their stall at Crown Perth on 22 October.
“We’ve got our freeze-dried bananas, a crunchy, crispy snack in slices, and we’re also doing frozen whole and frozen chunks of bananas that we’re wholesaling and trying to get into retail stores,” she says.
“Most of the frozen bananas in Australia are imported from other countries, which is crazy – we’d really like to replace some of those imported ones.”
With Sweeter Banana’s produce sold via agents, as well as direct to customers, Meet the Buyer also enables Doriana to build relationships with retail representatives. This, in turn, opens up other opportunities.
“Over the years with one retailer we would just have a bit of a yarn and then this year we were invited to attend one of their trade shows,” she says. “That wouldn’t have happened without us attending Meet the Buyer each year and getting to know them.”
As part of a cooperative whose growers would struggle to service bigger retailers individually, Doriana understands the importance of working together.
“By putting all our product together and marketing collectively and packing collectively, we create a brand, and the Buy West Eat Best program is like a bigger scale of that,” she says.
“The coordination of events like Meet the Buyer gives smaller producers the opportunity to attend a trade event that maybe they couldn’t otherwise – and it just gets bigger every year.”
Doriana is a huge advocate for Buy West Eat Best in general. “It’s a collaborative brand. Every time we put the (distinctive bitemark) logo on one of our bananas, we’re not just promoting our product, but we’re promoting every other business that has that brand on there,” she says.
“I can guarantee if I walk down the street in Perth, nobody would be able to identify our local logo. It is the same with most other WA brands, but working together and doing it collaboratively, you spread the word so much further than you could ever do by yourself.
“Western Australians love to know where their food comes from. So why wouldn’t you be part of Buy West Eat Best? The cost is less than running a couple of Facebook ads – and it’s instantly recognisable with that logo.”
Make a winning date
Rob Nixon describes Meet the Buyer as speed dating for chefs.
“It’s one of the best things I’ve ever been to,” he says. “As chefs, we’re so busy running our own restaurant that we would have a hard time going to see one or two small-batch producers, let alone 100 or so. Here they are all under the one roof.”
Unlike many of those looking for love at regular speed dating events, the executive chef at That Plant Cafe in Kelmscott, and its more recent addition in North Fremantle, always walks away from Meet the Buyer happy.
“Every year I find something new – a new producer or a new product – and I wouldn’t have found them unless I met them at Meet the Buyer,” Rob says, citing NewLeaf Orchard and Halls Family Dairy among those producers who have found their way onto his menus.
Aside from the journeys of discovery, Rob enjoys catching up with businesses he connected with at earlier Meet the Buyer shows. “They might say ‘I’ve got this in the pipeline’ or ‘we’ve got a new flavour’, and it just keeps that communication going,” he says. “With a few of them, we’ve even given some feedback and they’ve said ‘that’s a really good idea, we’re going to do that for next year’.”
Rob loves that chefs help draw attention to the quality of Western Australian produce. “Halls Dairy has gone from strength to strength and it’s obviously because they have a great product, but chefs like me who have used their product spread the word and others see it on Instagram and ask ‘where did you get that from’,” he says.
The busy chef, whose venues are both open seven days a week, also relishes the opportunity to catch up with other people in the food and drink industry, particularly at a time when everyone is feeling the pinch.
“Whether I walk out with 10 different things or with nothing, the fact that I get to spend time with people I don’t normally get to see is great,” he says. “It’s a difficult time for the industry and if restaurants are struggling it has a flow-on effect for producers, so to be able to have conversations and talk about ways to pivot is so important.”
Want more Meet the Buyer stories? Chefs Paul Lange, of Smokey Q rubs and sauces, and Blair Allen, of Amelia Park Restaurant, love the connections they make at Meet the Buyer, while Sharon O’Connor-Harvey, of Perth Brittle Company, was delighted to be asked to create some tasty selections for Tucker Fresh.
Meet the Buyer 2024 exhibitor registrations are sold out. Delegate tickets are still available. Secure your tickets here.