Tripod Farmers was established in 1990 at Bacchus Marsh, northwest of Melbourne. Today the business has grown to almost 400 ha over two locations but remains 100 per cent Australian owned and family run by the third generation of the Candeloro family and their sons Joseph, Frankie and Joseph Jnr Ruffo.  

The family members all hold core roles across directorship to production, sales, transport, logistics, quality control and business development.   

 Frankie Ruffo is the farm and production manager at Tripod Farmers and helps plan and oversee production including variety selection, crop protection program, fertiliser program and harvest scheduling.   

 “My grandparents introduced fancy lettuce and speciality vegetable lines to the Melbourne markets in the early 60s as F&M Candeloro Pty Ltd. By the early-90s Tripod Farmers saw increasing demand for leafy and fresh cut lettuce,” said Mr Ruffo.  

 “They began expanding the business and we now grow a full range of leafy vegetables including spinach, salad mixes and wild rocket as well as baby cos leaves, full size and baby cos heads and coloured lettuce heads.  

 “We’re not the biggest in Australia but we’d be in the top five.”    

 All of Tripod Farmers’ produce is field-grown, mostly along river flats on sandy loam soil. 

All irrigation is fixed overhead, with water sourced from water catchments at Lake Glenmaggie and the Werribee River, as well as from privately owned bores.   

 “Water is the most critical part of growing leafy products that are such a high percentage of water,” said Mr Ruffo.   

 Their product range includes 1.5 kg bulk salad leaf boxes for the food service industry, pre-packaged products under the supermarket brands and Leafy Patch brand products sold in independent supermarkets. 

As well as Melbourne, Tripod Farmers sell to agents in the Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane markets.   

 “We’ve got around 20 products in our salad range and that includes many different salad blends. Our most popular line is our salad mix, followed by baby spinach then baby cos,” said Mr Ruffo.  

 “Production is 12 months a year, so every week we’re seeding, planting, harvesting, packing and delivering products. It’s a really challenging and rewarding work environment. 

 “Along with growing, we wash, pack and market all our own produce. We also do all our own intrastate transport and only outsource interstate transport.”   

 Tripod Farmers have a purpose-built, state-of-the-art processing plant where produce is packed under a strict quality control and cool chain system to maintain shelf life, appearance and taste. 

Produce is transported straight from harvest to a temperature-controlled environment, washed in refrigerated tanks in the production line and packed immediately to maintain core temperature.   

“We pride ourselves on providing quality produce to all our customers. We aim to supply the freshest and best products possible.”  

Demand for salad leaves is fairly consistent year-round with Tripod Farmers producing around tonnes of produce each week. 

 “The farm is a fast-paced environment. In summer it could be less than a month between planting and harvest for our leafy varieties and in winter up to 3 months,” said Mr Ruffo.  

Variety selection is key to managing these seasonal differences and over 50 different varieties of leafy vegetables are grown each season. Product development staff work with seed producers to trial new product lines.   

 “Innovation is a big part of our business and we’re always trialling new lines and salad leaf blends to bring to market,” said Mr Ruffo.  

 “We’re also increasing sustainability wherever we can – reducing labour and pesticide and herbicide use and increasing efficiency.   

 “We grow around six Syngenta varieties of spinach and lettuce that have good disease resistance which means we can use a bit less fungicide chemistry” said Mr Ruffo. Tripod Farmers sustainability focus also extends to packaging, with biodegradable or recyclable punnets and bags as well as using technological innovations to reduce the environmental impacts of weed management.   

 “We recently invested in a LaserWeeder, one of only 50 of its type in use in the world. It uses a camera to scan the field and AI [artificial intelligence] to tell the difference between the crop and weeds,” said Mr Ruffo.  

 “We’ve been using the LaserWeeder for around two and a half months now and its reducing labour and herbicide use.”   

 From seeds sown in Bacchus Marsh over 35 years ago, Tripod Farmers has grown to one of Australia’s biggest salad producers with a clear focus on quality, sustainability and innovation at every level. 

Their unique blend of knowledge, experience and passion yields produce that customers can rely on every day of the week.    

Tripod Famers is one of the venues on the Werribee/Bacchus Marsh bus tour as part of Hort Connections 2024. You can book your place on this tour via https://hortconnections.com.au/ 

Syngenta has been a lead strategic partner with Ausveg for the past 17 years and sponsor of the Syngenta Grower of the Year award.