Founder of Fresh Produce Group, Robert Nugan Featured in The CEO Magazine

Robert Nugan spoke with The CEO Magazine in an exclusive interview on building Fresh Produce Group from the ground up and the contribution the suppliers have made to the company’s success

by Paris Brooks

(WireNews+Co) - Sydney, Australia - 07 March 2013

Following his family’s legacy in fresh produce, Robert Nugan established Fresh Produce Group (FPG) in 1991. “I had a passion for marketing and international trade, as well as growing and packing,” Robert explains. “My family was in growing and packing for a few generations. My father started the international component of the company and I was working with him on that when he passed away. I continued on in that vein for four or five years. My passion drove me to continue with that focus, but their direction wasn’t, so I set up my own business.”

Robert stepped away from the family business (Nugan Group’s international trading company, Australasian International Brokers) to set up FPG, which incorporates imports, exports, wholesale, domestic and logistics services. However, the early years meant getting the business off the ground and establishing relationships with suppliers and clients. “When we started, it was very much a wholesale-focus business and we had a relationship with the supermarkets for imported products only.

“In those early days of importing fruit into Australia, we were basically able to use the relationships I had built overseas to pioneer import business into Australia; it became a knowledge-based and relationship-based business. As FPG has evolved over time, the entire company has developed along with that. The investment required to grow the organisation has become significant. We started with $2 and grew it primarily through organic growth.”

From its humble beginnings, FPG has quickly grown into one of Australia’s largest and most innovative fresh-produce providers. Robert’s vision to source and deliver the very best fresh produce that Australia and the rest of the world can provide has been realised. Today, the company has ripened into a thriving, technologically advanced business that literally works from the farm gate to the customer’s plate.

To read the entire interview click here (http://www.theceomagazine.com.au/profiles/FreshProduceGroup/RobertNugan.pdf).

The CEO Magazine is Australia’s leading business magazine focused directly at high-level executives. The CEO Magazine is of unrivalled quality and has a hugely-influential readership of Australia's top business professionals. The CEO Magazine can be seen in every Virgin and Qantas Business Lounge across Australia as well as all Hilton and Starwood executive suites nationwide. The CEO Magazine also holds Australia's most prestigious awards night for high-level executives, the annual, Executive of the Year Awards. To find out more about The CEO Magazine go to http://www.TheCEOMagazine.com.au (http://www.theceomagazine.com.au).