Fourth-generation farming business, Queensland’s Piñata Farms, has been inducted into Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame for its leadership and innovation in Australia’s food production industry.
Piñata Farms began with a single 26-hectare pineapple farm, growing fresh and cannery fruit at Wamuran, north of Brisbane in the 1960s.
Today, it is Australia’s largest pineapple producer, and a leading multi-fruit producer, growing strawberries, raspberries and Honey Gold mangoes over more than 1,000 hectares around Australia.
It employs some 200 people at any given time and is owned and operated by the Scurr family, led by brothers Gavin and Stephen.
Accepting the award at a gala dinner at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, managing director Gavin Scurr congratulated all past and present inductees.
“We are humbled and honoured to be recognised in such an esteemed company,” said Scurr.
“We appreciate the solid foundation and the values that our parents Geoff and Narelle set for our family in the 1960s, passed on from our grandparents before them… Those same values are now part of our wider company culture and it’s a foundation the next generation can build on.”
Scurr paid tribute to all Piñata Farms employees who have contributed to the company’s growth, success and reputation in the fresh produce industry.
“This award is recognition for the whole Piñata team from the Northern Territory to Tasmania who, despite the weather, turn up every day and give their best to ensure Australians can enjoy fantastic fruit,” said Scurr.
Piñata Farms is regarded as an early adopter of new practices, technologies and techniques, all playing parts in the company’s key stages of growth.
In the 1990s, Piñata pineapples were among the first to be sent to market without tops – now an industry standard.
In 1994, the Scurr brothers introduced Hawaii’s low-acid hybrid pineapple variety MD2 to Australia, reinvigorating the fresh pineapple market.
In 1996, they pioneered pineapple production at Mareeba, Far North Queensland and remain the only commercial growers in the district.
Strawberry production began at Wamuran in 2000 and strawberries are now produced year-round in three locations in Queensland and Tasmania.
In 2009, after acquiring the breeding rights to grow specialty Honey Gold mangoes, the first commercial quantity of Honey Golds arrived on supermarket shelves.
In 2015, the business entered a joint venture agreement with UK-based BerryWorld Group to grow proprietary berries in Australia.
Specialty strawberries and raspberries are now produced in Queensland and Tasmania.
Piñata Farms was among five 2024 inductees at the gala event at Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, attended by some 800 business leaders and dignitaries.