Sometimes you may wonder why you pay a service provider such as Parks Fresh Produce to do your buying, when you could save money and do it yourself.

So if you decided to do it yourself, here's how you would do it, to get the same quality produce we deliver to you.

After compiling the order for your store, you would need to decide where to purchase each line from, and place your orders with the market agent. To ensure supply you would need an in depth knowledge of market availability, retail agent's grower's expectations, grower reliability and market conditions. All of this information would have been obtained during the off - market morning during your routine "scouting expeditions" and agent contact times.

Later that day, after the market opens at 3.00 pm, you would be present at the markets to oversee the arrival of your goods, to check the quality, return unsuitable produce and source a replacement from another agent. Of course, poor quality is rejected on sight, the result of 45 years experience of your quality assessment team.

As the goods are arriving in your warehouse, your packing team of 8 fulltime workers will be sorting the produce into smaller units than provided by the markets. The convenient sized segments, from 1kg to 1000kg, are adjustable to exactly what you require. Remaining units will be absorbed into the general operation, so you are not wasting any produce, neither are you paying for goods you don't require. Your 4 fulltime stores staff will repack the delicate lines - the small and leaf lines, for you, surrounded by newspaper for support, and wet down to preserve freshness. With their 18 years combined experience, they will know which lines to dampen to preserve freshness, and which lines to keep dry for crispness.

You would deposit your produce that has arrived in one of your three 5HP Maneurup Condensing Unit with Muller Evaporative Cooler, which you purchase for a mere $17,000.00 each. They are the best, but also, unfortunately, the most expensive. You need them to maintain maximum freshness for your produce. Combined, the coolrooms occupy 52m2 of warehouse space, with a leased value of $57.00 per square metre.

Next morning you will need to rise pre-dawn to be at the market prior to opening at 5.00am to consult with the market agents, with whom you have developed close consulting relationships over many years. You will use these relationships to agree on prices, achieving lower prices according to the bulk of produce purchased. You will also confirm your knowledge of market movements and availability of up-coming products, and weather conditions affecting supply of produce. Information you need to know.

Once all your produce has been collected into your warehouse, it will be palletized by your Yale 20AF forklift, imported from Japan, at a cost of $25,900.00 and operated by your storemen with over 20 years combined experience in handling fruit and vegetables.

You have arranged an account with Chep and Loscam, for pallet exchange and maintain a stock of pallets for immediate use.

Now you will want to oversee the loading of the 5HP evaporative chilled delivery truck, for despatch to your store.

This entire process is overseen by the $14,795.00, 96 hour Closed Circuit Television System. With the security on hand, you will quickly and beneficially settle disputes over receipt of goods.

Now that the purchase and despatch of your load is complete, you are free to return poor quality goods and follow up your credit claims, again utilizing your relationship with the agents built on trust and respect.

After you leave the markets, you will attend to meetings with the growers you are constantly sourcing. The quality available from the growers is sometimes better than that available from the markets. You will go direct to achieve this quality, and to alleviate market fluctuations ensuring that you get the best produce at the best price.

When your stock has arrived at your store, and you have overseen it's stacking onto shelves, you are then able to check the market invoices as they arrive at your fax machine. Checking them immediately enables you to lodge a claim early, while daily events are still fresh in the salesman's memory. Of course, you could do this after the day has finished, but you would not then be able to contact the market floor until the next day, by which time the salesmen have other sales on their minds, and may dismiss your concern.

So why not buy your own produce? It's simple. Or you could leave all the hassles in our experienced, professional hands, and spend your time doing what you do best - running your shop.