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We grow the sweetest strawberries
with just the right amount of bite;
Juicy, firm raspberries
;
blackberries
bursting with flavour;
And beautiful, bountiful blueberries
Our passionate Australian farmers have been growing berries for Driscoll’s since 2010, and we now have farms in 9 regions around the country. We proudly support our local berry growers and the communities that our berries are grown in, and believe that ‘Australian grown’ is a wonderful asset for our berries. Here’s why:
Farming History
Australia and New Zealand’s agricultural products are highly regarded around the world, and Driscoll’s berries are no different. Aussie and kiwi farmers consistently produce high quality products.
Reduce Greenhouse Emissions
As per the Australian Government Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Australian agriculture is the only sector of the economy that has reduced greenhouse emissions over the last two decades. Driscoll’s is proud to be a part of this great achievement.
Environmentally Friendly
Australian growers are renowned for their commitment to biodiversity, water management, and low rates of chemical usage. This produces berries that not only taste great, but are better for our health, and for the environment.
It’s no accident that our berries are so flavoursome. We breed them specifically to turn out that way, based on feedback from berry lovers around the world. Our experts have struck the perfect balance between sweet and tart.
Berries are a delicate bunch, and they don’t like too much handling. Our berries are hand-picked, gently packed, and chilled to perfection to help preserve their freshness. Then, they stay chilled all the way to the supermarket.
Quality takes many shapes, and we strive to grow longer-lasting fruit in great condition. Their appearance matters, too. Our berries are picked, packed, and transported with the highest level of care, helping us to make sure they arrive to you with that bright burst of colour and plumpness that you know and love.
Thanks to our comprehensive R&D program, Driscoll’s has perfected the art of berry-growing. We have patented a range of berry varieties, each one renowned for its flavour and colour.
Before any one of our berry plants is sent out for commercial farming, it undergoes rigorous screening. We only send out the top 1% of plants that we propagate, supporting our commitment to only producing the best berries.
Our berries are bred naturally, making them more resistant to diseases and pests. We never irradiate or genetically modify our plants, either.
To create the best berries. We take a leaf out of the bumble bee’s book, carefully cross-pollinating our plants. This means we take the best characteristics of different berry plants and combine them to continually produce new varieties.
Once a plant has passed the R&D phase, it moves to one of our nurseries. The Driscoll’s nurseries are the perfect site for plant propagation. Within this germ-free environment, our seedlings thrive.
Nursery locations are carefully selected based on geographic areas where the soil is free of pests and diseases.
After spending its early days in a screen house, the seedling is planted in a nursery field. It may spend several years here, and then the seedling is harvested and carefully packed and shipped to a cooler to await collection by a Driscoll’s farmer. They, in turn, can apply the skill and experience to grow them into the finest berries.
Our berries are grown in the fresh air, in a dynamic biological environment. The farmers’ challenge is to work with nature to get the very best out of every berry plant. Their goal is to shape the biological diversity of their fields as naturally as possible.
Berries are planted in rows, with a slope to ensure that irrigation water flows smoothly across the field.
Different berry plants have different growing and harvesting needs. Strawberries take 30 days to mature from flower to fruit, with the fields re-planted every year. Raspberries require re-planting every 2-3 years, and blackberries every 5-6 years, while the hardy blueberry can live longer than 15 years.
At Driscoll’s, our goal is to get the berries from our farmers’ fields to you with minimal disruption. Berries are a very delicate fruit, vulnerable to heat and mis-handling.
Our farmers carefully hand-pick and pack the berries each day during harvest, and get the berries to a Driscoll’s cooler that same afternoon. There, the berries are inspected for quality and cooled to optimal storage temperature.
We ship our berries as soon as possible after harvest, to ensure they arrive at your local store fresh, ripe, and delicious.