• History > Future
• Quality Management
• Sustainability
• Industry
• Innovation
• Our People
• Links

Where we came from…

The seed for the business started back in the late 1970s as one man’s 'passionate experimental hobby’. From there, with a commitment to setting the benchmarks on quality and R&D, Robert Hayes transformed his passion into Australia’s most expansive grower and producer of fresh culinary herbs. Today, more than 15 herb varieties are currently branded under the Freshzest label.

Originally using traditional soil-based horticultural methods to successfully produce and sell organic and biodynamic fresh herbs to leading restaurants and hotels in Melbourne (Australia), a growing demand in the retail sector led to the establishment of Freshzest at Pound Creek in South East Gippsland Victoria in 1983.

Production started under 600 sqm of greenhouses, incrementally expanding to over 6,200sqm at the Pound Creek site today. Then, after years of careful planning, a new 10,000sqm glasshouse became operational in northern NSW in mid 2008.

This enterprise is no longer just one man’s experimental passion but involves an expanding team of managers, horticulturalists, supervisors, administrators, growers, harvesters, packers and sub-contractors.

Where we’re going…

With the growing popularity of cooking shows, food magazines and the age of the celebrity chef, the retail demand for herbs continues to expand. As a result, the 16,200sqm (4 acres) of growing space currently used by Freshzest will also need to expand in the coming years. Plans for this include an extension of the Caniaba glasshouse in NSW - to almost double its size - and a redevelopment of the Pound Creek site in Victoria to replace several hothouses with one large glasshouse.