Westerway grower honoured

Richard Clark and Dick Smith

WESTERWAY farmer Richard Clark has been named the Tasmanian Young Fruit Grower of the Year. The announcement was made at the Fruit Growers Tasmania annual awards dinner in Launceston last night.

The award citation says Richard Clark started the Westerway Raspberry Farm in 1998 as a teenager and through school and a university degree (bachelor of economics with honours) he has continued to grow the fresh raspberry business. Richard ships fruit to local and mainland markets and employs more than 160 staff during harvest. Richard has travelled extensively to study production around the world and is also an executive member of the Fruit Growers Tasmania Board.

Tasmanian raspberries and blackberries are key ingredients in a campaign by entrepreneur Dick Smith to counter the dominance of imports at the top end of the Australian jam market. Next year Mr Clark will supply Dick Smith Foods with 48 tonnes of raspberries and a smaller amount of blackberries.