Completed project
Quality assurance harmonisation: Implementation (AH14015)
Publication date: February 22, 2021
Delivery Partner: Kitchener Partners
The Harmonised Australian Retailer Produce Scheme (HARPS) is the result of extensive collaboration between Hort Innovation and Australia’s major food retailers (ALDI, Coles, Costco, Metcash (IGA) and Woolworths). HARPS was announced to the horticulture industry at the PMA Fresh Connections conference in May 2016 and launched to industry later that year in October.
The key outcomes from this project were:
All the major grocery retailers have come together collaboratively to identify and develop a harmonised solution that will help reduce the cost and complexity for growers in meeting the requirements of different retailers. The outcomes from this project will particularly benefit the smaller growers that are increasingly struggling to maintain profitable businesses, but ultimately cost savings will flow through the supply chain and also benefit the retailers and consumers.
According to Nielsen (2015), the fresh produce market share covered by these businesses is approximately 80 per cent of the total Australian retail market.
This project was a strategic levy investment in Hort Innovation's across-industry program
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