Perfection Fresh Case Study: Innovating Healthy Snacking

April 20, 2026

Perfection Fresh was the first to bring Grape Tomatoes into Australia in 1997 and then Broccolini in 1999.

When Perfection Fresh launched Qukes is 2007, they were the first in the world to commercialise baby cucumbers.

Hear from John Simonetta, Chief Commercial Officer, Perfection Fresh, about the mission to make fruit and vegetable more accessible, convenient and consistent to compete against chocolate and other processed snack foods.

Can you tell us about Perfection Fresh and how you started out in the fresh produce industry?

My father Tony started the business in 1978 as a market wholesaler in the Sydney Markets, predominantly selling commodity products like lettuce, broccoli and cauliflowers. In the late ‘90s, we started our journey on proprietary products. We were the first to bring Grape Tomatoes into Australia in 1997 and then Broccolini® quickly followed in 1999. We’ve grown from a small family operation to a team of more than 1,500 people working across Australia and now the world with a comprehensive approach to farming, product variety, and product marketing. My father always wanted us to study and have a qualification, and I was practicing law before joining my two brothers and my sister in the business in 1997.

What led Perfection Fresh to adopt snacking products like Qukes® baby cucumbers?

When we launched Qukes® in 2007, we were actually the first in the world to commercialise baby cucumbers. The variety was developed by an International seed company - Rijk Zwaan - who had featured the variety in its catalogue and then approached us. We saw it as a clear opportunity - we wanted something snackable, with great flavour and broad appeal for both kids and adults. Qukes® really fit into a wonderful window in terms of size, price, flavour and convenience of eating.

How long does it take for a new product to be successful?

When we introduced grape tomatoes and Broccolini in the late ‘90s, they were completely new to Australian consumers. It used to take more than 12-18 months just to get people to try something unfamiliar. Today, thanks to social media and rapidly shifting food trends, consumers are much more open to trying new things and they adopt them faster. That means for a new product we’re launching in a few months – a long stem bunching cauliflower - we expect to achieve the same sales growth as Broccolini® in a five to seven-year period compared to the 20-year period it’s taken for Broccolini®.

What advice would you give to other producers about innovation?

My initial advice would be to ensure you understand the market opportunity. Understand it from a growing, supply chain perspective as well as the consumer of course. You can’t bring something to market and it not being both marketable and profitable across the supply chain. Do growing trials and do them properly - it’s not just about yield but about grower-friendly varieties that perform consistently and respond to different temperatures and conditions. We trial hundreds of varieties to find the right one.

We need to talk more about the health and vitality of fruit and vegetables.

We assume consumers know about the health benefits, but they don’t whilst FMCG companies make their products more popular than produce through clever marketing and insight. To increase fruit and vegetable consumption, we need to make them more accessible, convenient and consistent, whilst inspiring consumers to try new flavours.

How important are snacking lines to increasing fruit and vegetable consumption?

Snacking varieties are crucial for increasing consumption. We’re not competing against other tomatoes or strawberries or cucumbers - we’re competing against chocolate and other processed snack foods. One in ten Australian children meet the daily recommended intake of both fruits and vegetables, and a staggering 55% of kids struggle to identify common vegetables. Adults are also falling short in meeting the recommended daily intake of both fruits and vegetables. That’s why making fruit and vegetables more convenient, appealing and accessible to consumers - particularly children - is so important.

Making Fruit and Veggies More Accessible & Convenient