Different Stages of Ripe

In a matter of months, the financial year is over. It's been a great year for the Queensland mangosteen season, which is still going, and I'm glad to be back to bring these delicious queens to households.

What began as an optimistic return of The Thorny Fruit Co in July 2023, where after a year's hiatus, I reopened the business with a business partner - unfortunately (or fortunately) it crashed very quickly. It wasn't the right fit, our ideas for the business clashed and I felt the customers weren't being served the way they should. It felt like a breakup, and it took me a while to bounce back. The irony is, I stopped running TTFC because my husband lost his job and we needed two full time incomes. This time around, his employer made him redundant last June 2023, then went into administration. Still unemployed and on one household income in Sydney, I am forced to juggle a full time day job, and restart The Thorny Fruit Co to survive.

When mangosteen season began late January, it brought life back into the business for me. The passion of the business that I felt when starting it in 2019, reignited. The ability to connect growers with households. The opportunity for Australians and migrants to learn about the tropical fruits that grow here in our new home country. Or to reconnect with our past through fruit.

I've come this far on my own, I can still do it. I will find others with the same passion.

This tray of mangosteens stared at me in different stages of ripeness. A reflection of the growth I've seen, and am going through. There is a readiness inside that will take time.

I want the business to grow. I still have dreams for a wider market. There are still so many opportunities for growth. I have signed myself up to the SproutX Pre-Accelerator Autumn 2024 intake to gain a better understanding of agribusiness, and find startup opportunities in agtech.

I also recently completed a postage trial with Queensland mangosteen to reach customers in rural NSW, QLD, VIC and ACT, which theoretically and financially failed. But it has given me new optimism and learnings on how to make it better!

Let's see where this next stage takes me. If you'll keep on this journey with me.