SA Chapter HALL OF FAME

Web: www.comitfarm.com.au

Bruno Mitolo emigrated from Italy to Australia in 1956 and for more than fifteen years was involved in market gardening in the Campbelltown area.  In 1972 he established a small onion packaging business at Virginia, combining his long market gardening experience with his innovative approaches to packing fresh produce.  A few years later, he was encouraged by local growers to expand his business to include the packaging of potatoes. After a lengthy battle with the now defunct South Australian Potato Board, Comit Farm was eventually granted a licence to wash and pack potatoes in 1978.

Bruno and his wife Angela had three sons, Frank, John and Darren. Frank and John joined the company in 1986 and Darren joined soon afterwards.

In the late 1980s, the Mitolo Group expanded to incorporate its own production base, purchasing eighty hectares at Woolpunda in the state’s east. The Group today hold lands in excess of 40,000 hectares spread across various regions in South Australia, to provide protection against localised disease and spread the seasonality of the produce.

Cool room facilities provide for storage in excess of 6,000 tonnes of onions. This degree of control on production means that customers can be assured of consistent supply of potatoes and onions all year round.

The original Virginia site, now covering some six hectares, is a sophisticated, high capacity facility designed to supply the year-round demands of fresh produce retailers and food service companies in Australia and overseas. The Mitolo Group has expanded to also incorporate olive growing, processing and distribution.

Comit Farm Produce now supplies more than 70,000 tonnes of potatoes and onions each year to retailers and wholesale merchants in every state and territory of Australia as well as Asia and Europe, and was the first fresh vegetable packer in Australia to receive ISO 9000 accreditation for quality and food safety systems.

Frank has now succeeded his father as Managing Director, while John is the Group Farm’s Director and Darren the Group Operations Director. The Mitolo Group has successfully moved to the second generation, but Bruno maintains a presence.

Comit Farm Produce has grown over more than a quarter of a century to become the largest potato and onion packaging operation in the southern hemisphere, employing over 220 people.

The Mitolo Group was inducted into the FBA(SA) Hall of Fame in 2004.