Tony Galati officially opened his Treendale Spudshed on Thursday at 9am to hordes of eager shoppers awaiting their chance to get into the supermarket for cheap produce and a free bag of spuds.
Mr Galati said the journey to opening the shed had been long but the reality had lived up to his expectations.
“There are people lining up in the car park and down the road to get a spot,” he said.
“The people of Bunbury are not used to this kind of shopping experience, what we’re doing is completely revolutionary.”
The Spudshed is the seventh of it’s kind in the state and is the second fresh produce market in Bunbury after the Bunbury Farmers Market reopened at a new premises in 2013.
Mr Galati was quick to quash any talk that the Spudshed was in direct competition with long established big name supermarkets like Coles and Woolworths.
But instead insisted his sights were set on foreign companies establishing supermarkets in Australia.
“We grow the produce, it comes from our farmers straight to the store,” he said.
“Coles and Woolworths have my full support, but we don’t back foreign supermarkets.
“It’s good to have other options for consumers, competition is healthy for business.”
Earlier this year Mr Galati pleaded guilty to taking 320 million litres of water more than authorised for use in vegetable growing but said this year they were “sticking firmly within the guidelines.”
“It should be okay this year, we’ve got all our permits and we’ll be sticking firmly within the guidelines set out for acceptable water usage,” he told the Mail on Thursday.
Blayde Grzelka
Journalist for the Bunbury Mail, Australian Community Media, and Fairfax Media.
Journalist for the Bunbury Mail, Australian Community Media, and Fairfax Media.
