From market floors to industry giant: Michael Simonetta’s legacy

It’s 1am on a cold winter morning in July, and Michael Simonetta is a 21 year old accounting student. His father, Antonio, is knocking on his bedroom door, telling him to get out of bed. Michael’s mother, Mary, hands him a coffee and asks Michael, with some doubt, if he’s sure he’s making the right decision.

It’s a fair question. The fresh produce industry isn’t for the faint-hearted, and the Sydney markets - an unforgiving world of bustle, early mornings and uncertainty - were a far cry from student life and leisurely 9am starts at his uncle’s accounting firm.

That morning marked the beginning of a career that would see Michael lead a transformation of the family business into the second largest produce company in Australia, Perfection Fresh, and build on a family legacy Michael speaks about with pride.

The frantic markets were not entirely unfamiliar. Michael had grown up surrounded by fruit, vegetables and the family business. “Dad started working in retail in 1955,” Michael explains.  

 “He started with a fruit shop in Moorebank, in southwestern Sydney, and worked that business for many years. Around 1971, he and a partner bought seven or eight more fruit stores around Sydney. 

 “Dad recognised the difficultly in buying quality vegetables consistently to support several stores. He thought there was an opportunity to start as a wholesaler in the markets, supplying good quality lettuce, cauliflower and broccoli for 52 weeks of the year. 

 “In 1978, he started dealing with growers in Victoria, and we still deal with a number of those families today. The focus was product out of Werribee South, as well as the Lockyer Valley in Queensland, counter seasonally to each other. Year-round great produce. That was the foundation of Perfection Fresh.”  

Perfection Fresh branding; then and now

Michael joins me in one of his favourite Sydney restaurants, Oliveto’s, where Italian is on the menu, a hark back to his family’s roots. We're only a short distance from the new Perfection Fresh headquarters, where they’ve been located for the past six months.

At Oliveto’s, the waitstaff know Michael by name, delivering bread and olives to the table as he walks through the door. There is no power suit in sight. Instead, he wears a collared shirt and vest, proudly stamped with the Perfection Fresh logo. He moves easily between conversation, work messages and the bread in front of him, dipping pieces into olive oil and balsamic as he reflects on those early days.

A career in fresh produce was “the furthest thing from my mind”, he says. Yet four decades later, fresh produce has shaped much of his life.

It's the eve of his retirement - or, as he is quick to correct himself, “stepping down” - and Michael is preparing to leave his role as Chief Executive Officer of Perfection Fresh.

Across 40 years, he has helped grow Perfection Fresh into the powerhouse it is today, guided by lessons learned from his idol: his late father, Antonio, known to many as Tony.  

 “Around the dinner table, we would always talk about business and Dad was free with describing how good or bad things were,” Michael says.  

 "As an agent, whether the price is $10 or $20, you take a commission and you should be making a profit. But Dad would sometimes complain that he wasn't making any money. 

 “I'd say, 'But why aren't you making money? You should be making your commission?’ And he said, ‘When the market is low, you've got to look after your growers. If your growers go broke, you don't have a business.'

He'd always give back as much as he could to the growers to keep them viable, even when times were tough. 

 “That was a key learning – we are nothing without our growers. It's in the DNA of Perfection Fresh that we treat growers as an extension of our own business."  

Michael was in his sixth year of part-time study and close to completing his accounting degree when Tony purchased another business in the Sydney markets, FUDA Fruit and Vegetables. He asked Michael if he would be interested in managing the new venture.

 “I wanted to give fruit and vegetables a go. One of the main reasons I did it was the opportunity to work with Dad every day, and we worked side by side on the market floor for 20 something years. Being able to do that is one of my most treasured memories.”  

By 1991, the industry was changing. Supermarkets were becoming increasingly powerful in fresh produce, branding was emerging, and the role of central markets was shifting. At the same time, Michael was appointed CEO at just 30 years old.

“Dad had attended school to the third grade when he left Italy, came to Australia and started working. He recognised that for the business to grow, he needed somebody that was educated in Australia. He just loved working. He loved the markets; he loved the fruit shop. That was his passion. He handed it over in 1991 because he felt that I was ready."  

Michael’s accounting background put him in good stead to lead Perfection Fresh. His younger brother Vince joined the business in 1985 after completing high school, while his youngest brother John, a practising lawyer, joined the company in 1997. Together, the brothers helped drive the company’s next phase of growth.

Rosemary, the only daughter in the family, worked in the business during the 1980s before raising her own family, later rejoining in 2010.

“We started to figure out how we were going to survive. Being a traditional wholesaler wasn’t going to cut it for the majors in the future. So, what are we going to do to change?”

Perfection Fresh’s growth was shaped by three key strategic moves: strengthening its connection to production by growing its own products, licensing innovative genetics, and establishing exclusive marketing agreements with growers. Together, these decisions helped shift the business from a traditional wholesaler into one of Australia’s largest fresh produce companies.

Today, Perfection Fresh employs more than 2,000 people across its farms, processing facilities and sales sites. Operating from 15 locations nationwide — including the five central markets in Queensland, South Australia, New South Wales, Western Australia and Victoria — the company has grown significantly. Its turnover is now approximately $1 billion per annum, a 70-fold increase compared with 30 years ago.

Despite overseeing a billion-dollar business and thousands of staff across multiple sites, Michael remains calm and understated. Through lunch, he defers politely on the small decisions — shared entrées, sides, still or sparkling water — while occasionally glancing at his phone, a quiet reminder that the business is never far away.

He thinks quickly, listens closely and speaks with care. His politeness towards strangers in the restaurant, and the warm embrace he offers an old friend, say as much about him as his business achievements. When asked how he hopes others would describe him, his answer is simple: a “good human”. 

Michael Simonetta, the first recipient of Lifetime Membership to the The International Fresh Produce Association ANZ   

“My parents taught me the value of treating people well. Being fair, being honest. Turning up every day, acting with integrity — all the good values that most human beings should have, Mum and Dad taught me.”

There is a genuine warmth in Michael’s expression whenever he talks about his family. He says his mother has always looked out for him, and jokes that while he and his father did not always agree on the market floor, he holds him in the highest regard.

“Growing up, we lived next door to the fruit shop, and there were times when I hated it. Everything we did revolved around the shop. But as you get older and reflect on all those learnings and life experiences, I wouldn’t trade it. If I had to do it all again, I’d do it the exact same way.”

“In those days there weren’t mobile phones, there was no self-checkout. If there was a big influx of people Dad had to find some other means of attracting our attention, so when it got busy he would throw pebbles on the tin roof of our house.”

That sense of family involvement has carried through the business. John, now Chief Commercial Officer, remains with Perfection Fresh and will continue the Simonetta family legacy. Rosemary, who headed up the company’s food service sector, is also retiring this year. Vince finished up around six years ago.

While Michael’s two sons, Anthony and James, are not involved in Perfection Fresh, they have inherited the family’s entrepreneurial drive. Anthony worked in the business for 18 months before deciding it was not the right path for him. He now co-owns marketing agency and wellness centre with his brother, James.

“Anthony did a Bachelor of Information Technology and a master’s in marketing, James did a Bachelor of Science, majoring in advanced mathematics, and a master’s in design technology and business strategy,” Michael says.

“They couldn’t be any different in their personalities, they use that as a strength, and we’re really proud of them.”

For Michael, stepping back from Perfection Fresh also creates more space to support his sons as they build their own businesses — a different expression of the family legacy that has shaped his own career.

Lunch arrives at the table, including an order of bright green Broccolini®.

Michael first saw the product at a trade show in the United States in 1999. For the next two years, it became his mission to make Broccolini® a success in Australia, backing the product with the same instinct that has shaped much of his career.

“Broccolini® is 100 per cent usable; there is no waste. It is also very versatile, and it has a sweeter, milder taste compared to broccoli. I thought the flavour would resonate with consumers, especially kids,” he says. "and I just love it”

Initially, Perfection Fresh gave Woolworths exclusivity for Broccolini® and contracted growers to produce set volumes.

“Woolworths was very supportive of the product, especially in the early days and months when we didn’t know just how successful it would become.

“I didn’t want the growers to lose faith in it, so we were paying for a lot of product that was harvested but not sold in those early days. Michael Batycki was running produce at Woolworths when we launched Broccolini®, and he played a significant role in making it successful.”

Since then, more than 600 million bunches — 1.6 billion servings — of Broccolini® have been sold in Australia.

Under Michael’s leadership, Perfection Fresh is behind some of Australia’s most beloved produce brands, including Calypso® mangoes, Cauli-blossom® Fioretto®, Qukes® baby cucumbers, Kumato® tomatoes, and Perfection Berries.

Broccolini, Qukes and Calypso - Australia's favourite fresh fruit and vegetables from Perfection Fresh

“My Dad said his goal in life was to make our lives better than his was and that our goal when we had children, should be to make their life better than ours. To me, that means you've got to strive to be better today than you were yesterday. You need to keep evolving. One of my favourite quotes is from Benjamin Franklin: ‘When you finish changing, you're finished’.  

For someone who has spent much of his life moving, working and evolving, what does “stepping down” actually look like?

“I’ll give you the answer to that question in about December of this year,” Michael says with a hearty laugh.

He admits to “only” working 60 hours a week these days, far less than he used to, surviving on five hours’ sleep on a good night and waking with his mind already on the day ahead. Slowing down, it seems, will be relative.

“I’ll still be involved as a board member, and in the international side of the business. We started in China five years ago with Broccolini®, and it’s starting to gain some momentum. We’ve got a Calypso® mango project in Mexico, and an opportunity to plant about 4,000 hectares of Calypso® in the Americas...I am meant to be stepping down, but that’s one of the most exciting projects I’ve ever seen.

“I am looking forward to having more time and not being in a hurry. I want to support my sons’ businesses and travel more with my wife, Maryanne. Spend more time in Sicily and Calabria where our families are from. I’d like to join more Boards too.”  

Michael also has three grandchildren, five years old and under, who will be excited to have their Nonno around more. He has a love of good food and cooking, and perhaps he’ll even have time to complete those final two subjects of his accounting degree?  

“I had intentions of going back and finishing it, but I was getting up at 1am or 2am and it was hard to get my mind around attending university as well. To this day, it's one of my biggest regrets that I didn't finish that degree. Just because I like finishing things.”  

It is a small detail, but a telling one. Across four decades, Michael’s willingness to keep pushing, changing and looking for new opportunities has helped shape Perfection Fresh and left a lasting mark on Australia’s fresh produce industry.

“When I look back on my career, I’d like to be remembered as somebody who hasn’t accepted the norm, that’s tried to look outside the square and be different and keep evolving and keep changing and keep bringing new and exciting opportunities to consumers.”

So, what would Michael’s biggest supporter say to him about stepping down? 

“Dad would say, ‘You’re crazy for retiring.’ Unfortunately, he was struck down by Alzheimer’s and passed away 18 months ago, but he was coming to work until he couldn’t drive any longer.

“Another gentleman who worked for us for many years in the markets retired, and he sadly passed away six months later. Dad said to me, ‘You know why he died?’ And I said, ‘He was sick.’ And he said, ‘No, it’s because he stopped working.’

“If he knew I was retiring — well, not retiring, because I’m not retiring,” Michael says with a knowing smile, “but stepping down, he’d tell me I’m crazy.”

For Michael, stepping down does not mean stepping away from the values that shaped him, or the business his family helped build.

“I feel my greatest legacy is that we've established Australia's second largest produce company. I'm leaving the business with a strong family value legacy. That's something I'm proud of, that our family is proud of, and hopefully that will continue.”  

Left to right: Michael, Tony, Vince, and John Simonetta.