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Our 50 Most Influential people in food
AMJ was proud to be included in this story featuring South Australia's 50 Most Influential people in food published in the Adelaide Advertiser, Saturday 14th November 2015.
Glasshouse to Glasshouse
This year's Tasting Australia Event raised the bar yet again. But more than mere aesthetic upgrades, the festival's Tarndanyangga home created a clever connection between market garden and up-market dining.
Riverland yuzu gin could become signature drink for South Australia
PUTTING fruit in the liquor loop is a winning new distinction for South Australia, says a self-described “Old Sea Dog” riding the giant gin-soaked drinks wave.
Former master mariner Rowland Short, who entered “all this silliness with gin” after retiring to McLaren Vale a decade ago, says he is competing “with every man and his dog now making the stuff”.
Also searching for a truly SA-centric point of difference is fruit and veg wholesaler Margy Abbot, of AMJ Produce, and the pair have collaborated to create a yuzu gin, using the fresh citrus from a new crop in the Riverland.
They will unveil the yuzu spirit, under the Settler’s label, at the Maximus cellar door on World Gin Day next Saturday.
Winter Vegie Woe
Winter vegie woe, so it's not easy being green
Adelaide Advertiser, Thursday 1st September, 2016
The Fruits of Labour
Great story in the Adelaide SA Life Magazine about the South Australian grown Yuzu fruit.
Words by David Sly.
Strawberry punnets rise in price after storms hit SA
Regular punnets of about 450g are wholesaling at about $7 says Margy Abbot of fruit and vegetable distributor AMJ Produce.
“All the berries tend to go up in price at this time of year. There’s a lull while we wait for the Queensland and northern NSW strawberries to arrive,” she said.
“The South Australian and Tasmanian markets have closed out.”
Ms Abbot warned prices could be up to $8 a punnet for strawberries, many of poor quality. SA’s strawberries tend to be at their best over summer, through to April, and this year’s warm weather allowed the season to extend past April until the recent storms.
A juicy idea bears fruit for a Riverland revival
The Adelaide Advertiser - Saturday 01 August 2015
ABC Landline Story
VIEW AMJ PRODUCE ON ABC LANDLINE PICK OF THE BUNCH BROADCAST: 31/08/2014
Good Fruit & Vegetables Magazine - January 2014
AMJ Produce was profiled in the January Good Fruit & Vegetables Magazine. Have a read of this great article to find out more about AMJ Produce, what we specialise in and what makes us unique!
Flavour makes welcome return
The Advertiser, 11/11/2012 - Dianne Mattsson
RED ones, green ones, fat ones, skinny ones, even Black Russian heirloom tomatoes are putting the flavour back into our salads and sauces.
And the best thing about these exotic fruits is their flaws, says Margy Abbot of AMJ Produce. ‘‘Chefs love them because these are the real deal – unpampered, unmodified tomatoes,’’ she said. ‘‘They are grown in South Australia from seedstock up to hundreds of years old, with lovely lumps, bumps and loads of oldfashioned flavour.’’
Price is ripe for salad staples
The Advertiser, 10/11/2012 - Dianne Mattsson
THE price of tomatoes, which recently jumped to unprecedented heights – some up to $13kg – have plunged as much as $6kg this week.
Premium varieties are back to about $6-$8kg and punnets of cherry tomatoes, recently at about $8kg in supermarkets bounced back to the $4-to-$5kg range.
Weeds on the Menu in the home garden!
The Advertiser, 9/11/2012 - Dianne Mattsson
DESIGNER weeds are being cultivated alongside garden herbs and vegetables to add some spice to fancy dishes.
Magill Estate chef Emma Shearer is helping Edon Abbot, 11, and her mum, Margy, forage for unusual foods in backyard gardens.
A plate of petals
The Advertiser, 21/9/2011 - Simon Wilkinson
PICKING flowers doesn’t sound a dangerous occupation. But Kasim Erkoc is understandably nervous when he’s asked to collect nasturtiums by his brother Ayhan, chef at city restaurant Celsius.
living in the nasturtiums,’’Ayhan laughs. ‘‘He throws a couple of rocks in there before he goes in. He’s tried to scare it off and it doesn’t want to budge. He says, ‘Use another flower’.’’
Chefs are eating up mini veg gardens
The Advertiser, 19/4/2011 - Nigel Austin (Rural Editor)
The big vegie
The Advertiser, 2/3/2011 - Dianne Mattsson & Elizabeth Meryment
Sweet corn is in season and will be cheap and available this autumn. Restaurants are making corn trendy again by barbecueing them and serving with parmesan and lime.
Couple rewarded by fruits of their labour
The Advertiser, 13/11/2010 - Author, Nigel Austin
DRIVEN by a fear of losing their home if they failed, Chris and Margy Abbot have turned fruit and vegetable wholesaler AMJ Produce from struggling to thriving in six years.
Their achievement has included expanding the company’s turnover by 700 per cent and increasing staff from four to 19 people, while providing
fruit and vegetables to virtually all top-end restaurants in Adelaide.
The Abbots’ success resulted in them winning the annual Premier’s Food Industry Award for service earlier this month.
A growth industry
The Advertiser, 30/6/2010 - Dianne Mattsson
MARGY Abbot is talking to one of her favourite growers. ‘‘Go hard on flowers,’’ she advises. ‘‘And keep the microherbs coming.’’
They are tips worth heeding because Margy, a dynamo food wholesaler, is also a specialist at spotting food trends.
Margy is at the centre of a newly refined food chain, working as a conduit between kitchens and growers.
Her advice means growers can plant based on credible feedback from chefs, ‘‘rather than guessing’’, says Michelle Vidau of Herbivorous, with market gardens at Darlington and Hindmarsh Valley.
‘‘This way, I don’t take a risk on new varieties and spend months eating things like lemon basil myself because it doesn’t sell,’’ Michelle says.
Margy and husband Chris, formerly a farmer on the West Coast, own a fast-growing fruit and vegetable wholesale firm, AMJ Produce at Pooraka.