Meet S & G Fresh

One of our popular fruit & vegetable traders Abdul Ghani from S&G Fresh shares his love of quality, fresh produce and why Dandenong Market is the best place to be for business.

Abdul came to Australia in July 2007 as a student where he studied hospitality and worked part time at the Melbourne Wholesale Markets.

When Abdul completed his studies and got permanent residency in Australia, he thought about opening a restaurant, but a chance visit to Dandenong Market inspired him on to a different path. Abdul noted that there were no Afghan fruit or vegetable traders at Dandenong Market and with many customers of Afghan origin he believed there was a great need for it within the market.

Abdul asked around Dandenong Market to see if anyone was selling their stalls and when one owner William Wallace decided to sell, Abdul seized the opportunity.

As each season produced different lines of fruit and vegetables, Abdul spent the early months experimenting as to what produce would or wouldn’t work in the market and what his customer base preferred. It was trial and error in the beginning.

Abdul soon came to realise that customers wanted quality in the produce they bought. They were not happy to purchase mediocre produce at a cheap price.

As the months went by and Abdul came to learn more about his customer’s needs and provided them with good quality produce, business picked up and Abdul hasn’t looked back. He has a very good and loyal customer base who demand quality products and are happy to pay that bit extra. He has also built up a good reputation for his business within the Afghani community.

The Afghani community have certain products that are essentials on their shopping lists which include fresh produce like Okra, white zucchini and eggplant. They also love their herbs like fresh coriander and parsley, Abdul makes sure he has plenty of these quality fresh herbs and vegetables in stock for his clients every market day.