Make apples and pears ‘sexy’ says agritourism leader

Industry Excellence in Agritourism award recipient Sam Licciardello believes it’s important to give consumers an experience and a story that’s simple to understand. Photo: Victoria Baker Photography

Western Australian orchardist Sam Licciardello relishes the satisfaction of growing, picking and putting apples in a box for someone to enjoy, but he’s under no illusion about how challenging it is to educate the consumer. 

The recipient of the 2025 Industry Excellence in Agritourism award is adamant that growers need to join together to make fruit ‘exciting’, to increase awareness, knowledge and sales. 

Sam, a third-generation orchardist, and his wife Vanessa grow 45 hectares of apples and pears as well as plums, nectarines, peaches and cherries on the family’s Orchard 1 Sixty at Donnybrook, south of Perth. 

“My experience with the consumer on a daily basis is that sometimes they are unaware of the fruit season or the storage process, so it’s very important for us to give them an experience and a story that’s simple to understand,” Sam said.  

“You can’t really explain it in farming terms but you can make it a snapshot of reality, that orchards are really just outdoor factories and we are producing this fruit with all the elements against us.” 

Sam Licciardello and his wife Vanessa grow 45 hectares of apples and pears on the family’s Orchard 1 Sixty at Donnybrook, WA. Photo: Victoria Baker Photography

For the past decade, Sam has been the key organiser of the Fruit Pavilion at the annual Easter Donnybrook Apple Festival, a hugely successful and unique celebration of fruit that attracted more than 10,000 people to its 70th anniversary gathering in 2023. 

The festival plays a pivotal role in stoking people’s enthusiasm for fruit. 

“Years ago Donnybrook had Apple Queen contestants, and it was every contestant’s job to learn about and promote the industry. They’d ride on the tourist train with baskets of fruit or walk around the races in Perth and do other promotional events,” Sam explained. 

“These days we have growers behind the counter at the festival, telling people about the fruit and the season, and we have the opportunity to show some of the new varieties from the Australian National Apple Breeding Program. 

“People are like kids in a candy shop when they see the new apples! They love taking part in something special and ask, where can I buy it? What will its name be? The festival plays a huge part in promoting the industry.” 

Sam wants to see cideries and pick your own farms all start to work together to promote and educate consumers.  Photo: Victoria Baker Photography

The Licciardellos do their own annual promotion every October as well, when they host the Taste Donnybrook Long Table Lunch, which attracts visitors from Perth who drive two hours to attend. 

The Orchard 1 Sixty packing shed is transformed into an upmarket venue hosting a specially curated feast of locally grown produce, including wines, ciders, apples and pears and, sometimes, early season cherries, along with live music and guest speakers. 

“The Long Table Lunch gives people the chance to sample fruit in many ways, so they realise it can be more than just eating it out of the bowl or the fridge. It makes it exciting. You also have a chance to meet the people who grow the produce for your meal,” Sam said. 

“I’d like to see us all start to work together to promote and educate. Never before in the industry have we seen so many cideries and pick your own farms, and we can join together to encourage sales or even to show growers how they can diversify.” 

Sam also feels strongly about the need for supermarkets to play their part in promotion and education. 

“We should be telling them how we want the fruit displayed and promoted and have someone from our industry write a training program specifically for that. It’d be a win-win – the supermarkets would sell more product at better values, educate the consumer and instore quality would increase.” 

“In the old days, the local greengrocer did that because he knew the growers. He could tell shoppers where the fruit came from and what sort of season it had been. I think if you introduced that sort of education to the supermarket system, it would have a huge impact on sales. 

“Shoppers don’t know why fruit might have a blemish or not as much colour this year. If they mention that, I just tell them to close their eyes and eat it, so they see it doesn’t taste any different. 

“They also get confused about the cool storage process, so I explain to them that the fruit goes into a fridge where the oxygen is reduced to a level that will put the fruit to sleep, and when we take it out, it wakes up. Simple. 

“We need to keep apples and pears sexy so they’re constantly attracting the consumer, because this plays a key part in sales.” 

This article was first published in the Winter 2025 edition of AFG.