A great story recently appearing in the North Queensland Register, interviewing Don about the release of LongLegs as a Certified Organic Retail Brand.

http://www.northqueenslandregister.com.au/story/3701057/award-winning-organic-company-launches-new-branding/

North Queensland Register 2nd February 2016
Long Legs new brand for far north Queensland organic grower
By Lea Coghlan
News

2015 Australian Organic Farmer of the Year Don Murray’s family company has launched a new brand, Long Legs, to help consumers easily recognise its organic vegetable line. They have farms in far north Queensland and NSW.
AN award winning far north Queensland organic vegetable grower has launched a new brand to help consumers easily recognise its product line.
Don Murray, wife Elaine and son Brendan grow a variety of organic vegetables including zucchini, pumpkins, onions, tomatoes, sweet corn and peas under the Nature’s Haven label.
They farm 1000 hectares across four properties in far north Queensland and 130 hectares in southern New South Wales.
The success of Nature’s Haven is undisputed, with the company recording strong growth since starting. So too are the people behind it – Don was named 2015 Australian Organic Farmer of the Year and Brendan a finalist in the Young Leader Award.
But Mr Murray said Nature’s Haven was a “nice organic name” no-one remembered.
“If you look in supermarkets and retail shops our name never stays on anything so we were thinking we needed to come up with a better name that people would remember to start with and get it to stick,” Mr Murray said.
Long Legs is inspired by the brolga.
“The label is for the consumer to see so they can recognise that brand,” Mr Murray said.
“Most people recognise long legs once they’ve heard of it.
“I’ve always wanted a brolga to be part of our name because there’s brolgas in NSW and on our farm up here, and I’ve always liked the look of the brolga.”
Long Legs Certified Organic products were launched into the marketplace about six months ago through Coles and preliminary results show the new brand is helping sales, however, a true picture won’t be known for another 12 months.
Mr Murray said the label also had a cartoon.

Don Murray and wife Elaine grow organic vegetables at Dimbulah and recently launched a new brand, Long Legs, for their products.
“We are looking at that for kids to educate them about organics and use in the Asian market where a lot of the young adults love cartoons,” Mr Murray said.
Nature’s Haven products sell at supermarkets and retail outlets down the eastern coast of Australia, Northern Territory, Western Australia, Adelaide and Tasmania with a small amount exported.
Mr Murray said the 2015 Organic Farmer of the Year Award was recognition of his family’s hard work.
“It’s a team effort,” Mr Murray said. “We have grown the business quite drastically since we started. In the first year we turned over $100,000 and now we are up to $3.5 million last financial year, funded all out of our growth.”
Planting begins at the Dimbulah farm this month.

Check out this article in the latest issue of Australian Business News Source!

Horticultural Operations Staff

An Australian leader in the Certified Organic Vegetable sector operates out of 2 locations in Southern NSW and North Queensland. This large organic supplies produce all year round to major markets in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

This fast paced organisation regularly seeks passionate, responsible and enthusiastic Operations Staff. A number of challenging roles are available requiring outstanding organisational and communication skills and a flexible approach to handle the operational aspects of a diverse business, where there is reward for high achievement.

These ‘hands on’ roles cover all aspects of: irrigation; ground preparation; crop monitoring; machinery maintenance; field, harvest and pack house supervision.

You will ideally be a commercially focussed team player who is patient, resilient and adaptable to change, with good problem solving skills. Commitment to the future, along with your ability to handle daily issues and support the team, will determine your level of success.

To be successful in this role you will more than likely have:
• Enthusiasm and a willingness to learn
• Able to work autonomously
• Demonstrated ability to keep up with multiple irrigation requirements
• A good understanding of maintenance schedules and general mechanical aptitude
• A proven track record of supervising labour of diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds
• Experience in day to day farm operations and pressurised irrigation
• A basic understanding of Food Safety and a willingness to learn and comply with Freshcare and Organic guidelines
• Know your way around a computer
• Proven ability to keep and manage records
• Knowledge or experience in the vegetable growing industry
• Forklift & HR truck licences or ability to acquire
• Willingness to travel between locations in NSW and QLD occasionally
If you are a permanent Australian resident and can demonstrate a passion and appreciation for organic vegetable cropping, submit your application outlining your relevant experience to jobs@natureshaven.com.au.
Applicants seeking either full or part-time positions are encouraged to apply. Consideration will also be given to applicants with minor disabilities.

If you would like to work in this industry we encourage you to contact us.

CONGRATULATIONS TO DON, ELAINE & BRENDAN MURRAY OF
NATURE’S HAVEN FOR DON’S RECOGNITION AT THE RECENT
AUSTRALIAN ORGANIC ANNUAL AWARDS,
WINNING THE AWARD FOR FARMER OF THE YEAR 2015.

Australian Organic owns the nation’s largest and most recognisable organic certification mark on Australian shelves, Australian Certified Organic. Each year they celebrate the immense contribution of Australian Certified Organic clients to the organic industry by showcasing the year’s most outstanding organic products, businesses and individuals. The winners were announced at the Australian Organic AGM dinner at the Lockyer Valley Cultural Centre, Gatton, Queensland on November 27th, 2015.

Don received recognition for his contribution to the Australian Organic Industry over the last 15 years, along with recognition for his wife Elaine and son Brendan, also directors of Nature’s Haven. Don’s commitment to sustainable farming practices, along with his innovative marketing strategies, processes and programs and commitment to his staff and the local community were the key factors contributing to his award win. Don’s pleasure at the recognition is evident, commenting “this recognition is testament to the hard work put in by many people over the last 15 years, resulting in the success that Nature’s Haven is today. I’m thrilled to receive this honour”.

Don will concentrate on continuing to expand Nature’s Haven’s domestic business, looking at moving into export in the near future.

#AOAwards4Excellence

A new brand to make it easier for shoppers to recognise organic produce they already know and trust

At Nature’s Haven we already know that our certified organic produce is highly sought after by organic retailers. Organic retailers find our organic produce easy to sell which is a good indicator that it is also appreciated by discerning shoppers.

We are a very large certified organic grower in the certified organic market and we harvest as much of our produce as possible over the whole year. We are responding to feedback we have received from shoppers who want to know where their food comes from. So we thought health consious shoppers, like you, would appreciate the ability to recognise our produce when it is available in your preferred organic store.

So we would like to introduce LongLegs, our new brand for our Certified Organic Produce. Meet Bob, our bird, who will be making regular appearances on our website to provide you with information on certified organic produce and our produce in particular.

Bob is inspired by the Brolga (a regular visitor to our farms) and is a large, gangly, knocked kneed bird with long legs that we hope will amuse you with his clumsy, comical ancedotes of what is happening on our farms and will feature regular cartoons that we hope you will find entertaining and informative.We hope that Bob will give you some insight into who we are, our organic philosophy with regard to growing food and updates on produce availability.

Bob invites you to join our community. With your support and feedback we can foster a better understanding of the benefits of certified organic produce and get better product to you.

Bob here!  I’ve been really busy for a while, working so hard to introducing a new pumpkin variety to you….the result of more than 20 years of breeding.  Oh, that’s right…I’m not even 20 yet! Well I’m buddy buddy with the Nature’s Haven mob and I know they’ve been working on it for that long.

I’m told its main characteristics are that it’s easy to peel, slightly sweeter flesh; stores well and very smooth texture which makes it a very soft cooking pumpkin (don’t overcook).
DEB2010 is exclusive to Nature’s Haven and it has been registered with Plant Breeder Rights and is the first variety to be sold under the trademarked name of Amber Sweet®.

Amber Sweet® is produced solely as a Certified Organic pumpkin. Look for this label where you buy your organic produce.

This certified organic product has been brought to you by me!
™

Here’s what they’re saying about Amber Sweet:
“Tried one of your new pumpkins last night, a bit soft to roast but beautiful and sweet. A lot nicer than your jap pumpkins I have tried so far.”

“We made some soup from your Amber Sweet pumpkins, it came up thick and smooth, very finely textured. It has a natural sweetness about it. It has some very complex flavours about it different to other pumpkins. Sandra and I loved it.”

“Made soup with your new pumpkin last night. It was really easy to peel with a potato peeler. The kids loved it.”

I reckon that sounds pretty good! Get ’em before they fly off the shelves!

Nature’s Haven a Substantial Certified Organic Grower

Nature’s Haven came about because of a love of growing plants and being uncomfortable with what we see as the unnecessary use of chemicals. Our philosophy is that if you provide healthy soils, adequate water, good nutrition and a natural balanced ecosystem plants will be in an environment where they can look after themselves.  At Nature’s Haven, we wish to promote the ‘Organic Philosophy’, encourage healthier lifestyles and protect the local environment. In order to achieve this aim we seek to be a successful commercial business supplying high quality, nutritionally sound produce to health conscious consumers.

The three elements by which we measure ourselves are Quality of our Produce, Respect for the Environment and Maintaining a Safe and Happy Workplace.

Don and Elaine have in excess of 60 years agricultural experience between them predominantly in vegetable seed crops, agronomy and agricultural research. In 2009 Brendan joined our operation enabling the business to operate in two separate locations with complimentary growing seasons.

Our NSW properties are very versatile and have a reliable supply of good quality irrigation water. The soils are Sandy to Sandy Loams and provide good access in wet conditions allowing year round cropping. Vegetable cropping is predominantly in the Spring, Summer, Autumn period with some Winter vegetables and green manure crops through the Winter.

The original property has been under organic management since 2002 and is now fully certified to the Organic Standard. In 2005 the property also achieved compliance with the Freshcare guidelines as another step in fully implementing a food safety program.

Since this time an additional 3 properties have been added to our NSW operation giving us approximately 140 hectares under organic management in the NSW location.

Due to a large number of requests from our buyers to supply produce through the Winter we investigated areas in North Queensland that had suitable climate and would suit our management system.

In 2009 the venture was extended to Far North Queensland to enable us to supply our major produce lines all year round between the 2 locations. 4 properties in Far North Queensland gives us the ability to crop approximately 300 hectares (with another 320 hectares which could be developed over time) in the Northern operation.  The soils are diverse but versatile, enabling our supply year round.

Our Team

Don Murray – General Manager

Elaine Murray – Systems Developer

Brendan Murray – Sales Manager/NSW Manager

Jason McDermott – FNQ Cropping Manager

Michael Gordon – NSW Cropping Manager

Suzie Grace – Admin/Records/Finance