The avocados are harvested when strict maturity standards have been met.  All harvesting is carried out by hand via the use of cherry pickers and ground crew.  Once picked, fruit is placed into numbered 1/2 tonne plastic bins where they are collected for return to either of our two accredited packing facilities.

Goodwood Packing Operations

The Goodwood packing operations are housed in a 4500m² facility.  The shed includes the latest model computerised grading equipment with in-line sticker application and a sealed loading dock, which provides access to the 360-m² cold room.  Another 216m² of cold room space is used for pre-cooling and bin storage.  The Goodwood shed also operates two flow wrap machines to supply pre-pack avocados to the retail market.  Being Simpson Farms primary fresh pack shed, the Goodwood facility is Australia’s leading avocado packing facility.

Lynwood Packing Operations

The Lynwood packing operations are housed with our processing operations in a 4000m² facility.  Also having computerised grading equipment, it has a total of more than 700m² of cold room space and a 250 pallet space freezer.  This facility is one of Australia’s largest avocado processing facilities.

Quality Systems

Fruit is graded into premium, standard and processing classes. Up to 90% of fruit picked makes its way through the premium line.  The premium and standard (2nd) class fruit is either pattern packed or bulk packed.  The smaller fruit is value added by placing the fruit into punnets which are flow wrapped.  The processing fruit is value added into avocado pulp and guacamole in our processing facility.

Accredited to SQF 2000 level 3, Simpson Farms has developed a quality assurance program which includes HACCP analysis, aiming to provide consistently high standards of food quality and safety.  Both facilities are ICA-03 and ICA-19 accredited.  As a national distributor, Simpson Farms is dedicated to strict treatment regimes to ensure compliance with interstate requirements while providing a safe product. 

At key stages throughout the packing process, stringent quality checks are made in line with HACCP requirements. Documentation and product accountability are a crucial part of the process. Information gathered also allows us to make further improvements in efficiency and fruit quality.