Yes! Salamanca Fresh is a wholly Tasmanian owned and operated independent grocer. We are proud of our Tasmanian roots and work hard to support other Tasmanian businesses as well.

Our very first store was called the Salamanca Fruit Market.  It was and still is our flagship store, in the heart of Salamanca Place, in Hobart, Tasmania.  In 2010 we decided to rebrand and begin an expansion.  We decided that the name Salamanca Fruit Market didn’t really reflect the fact that we weren’t just a fruit market.  By that stage we had become a gourmet deli and fresh meat store, fresh produce specialist and gourmet grocer. We decided that we should keep “Salamanca” in our name to remember our heritage, and that “fresh” is an everlasting trait of the business.

We started life in 1979 as a wholesale fresh produce business, selling to restaurants, hotels and corner stores.  Sometimes we over purchased and had an excess of food and seconds for sale that we sadly had to throw out.  Around 1981 we thought it would be a good idea to find retail premises to sell the fresh produce that our wholesale customers did not buy.  So we purchased the old “Clements and Marshalls” apple outlet in Salamanca Place.  The people of Hobart soon let us know that they too wanted access to the quality produce that was going to restaurants, hotels and cornerstores and so our wholesale/retail concept took on the challenge.

We focused, learned and devoted our time to finding the best ways to get a wider range of fresh produce to Hobart consumers in the fastest time possible.  At first we slept in the back seat of a car at the Melbourne markets so we could be the first to buy the freshest food as the trucks pulled in from the farms.  Then we got to know both local and mainland farmers well (we’ve employed some of their children over the years – we’ve been to their weddings, birthdays, travelled together to banana conferences – Yes! banana conferences). And lastly, the idea came to us that we could start our own transport company to buy direct from these farmers we were forging relationships with.

Now we have seven Salamanca Fresh stores around Southern Tasmania and are a green grocer, deli, butcher, fishmonger and grocery store, all in one.

We have seven stores located in suburbs around Hobart:

• Salamanca Place,
• South Hobart (Davey Street),
• Sandy Bay (King Street),
• Lenah Valley,
• Bellerive,
• Kingston and
• Huonville.

You can find the full contact details for each store here.

It depends on the size of the farm, where the farm is located, the season and the fruit or vegetable.  Some examples are below.

• The fastest distribution happens when the supplier is a small farm located in Hobart – your fruit and vegetables arrive the same day or first thing the next day. They can include cherries, berries, apples, pears, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, cabbages, cauliflowers, potatoes, carrots, herbs and more. Some examples include Scott Brothers and Hmong farmers.
• If the farm is large (such as Harvest Moon) and supplies many places, including the mainland, your fruit and vegetables will probably be picked in the early hours of the morning, packed at the farm the same day and arrive at our store the next day.
• The longest transport time is for bananas. They must be picked very green from a farm in northern Queensland and go through a ripening process of several days in our banana rooms here in Hobart. The total time from picking through to ripening through to the shop shelf is 12 days.

We write the state or country where the fresh produce was grown on our price tickets. Fruit and vegetables grown in Tasmania will be labelled as such as well. For packaged food, the country of origin will be written on the product label. You will also find labels outling the percentage of Australian ingredients on our deli items and grocery products.

If the fruit and vegetables are locally grown, the farmer, depending on where he or she is, will deliver straight to the store or to SHV Wholesalers, from where we then deliver it to our stores.  Generally, if it’s not locally grown, our very own transport company will deliver it directly from the farms to SHV and then to the stores.

Salamanca Fresh produce is so fresh because our wonderful growers get it to us ASAP (growers want to get their produce to you while it is at it’s absolute freshest) and if they can’t, we go to them.

Once it arrives at our stores, we take the time to carefully explain to our fresh produce team members how we have “nursed” the fresh produce before it gets to them so they make sure they store it, handle it and display it with respect.  We say to them “we’re passing the baton on to you”.

To add further benefit, we have special temperature-controlled storage and transport for all our produce.

Our deli is restocked daily with fresh fish, meat, pre-made meals and salads. We make our salads in-house for you to enjoy the very same day.

We label all our local produce with “Tasmanian Grown.” Just check the writing on each product’s price ticket. This includes local meat and eggs as well!

Discover some of our local suppliers by clicking here.

If any item that you purchased at Salamanca Fresh is faulty or damaged at the time of purchase, just provide proof of purchase and we will happily refund you or exchange the product. It is very important to us that our customers are receiving the highest quality and freshest groceries.

RETURNS POLICY DUE TO COVID-19 CRISIS:

Please note that we are currently no longer providing refunds where you have changed your mind about products purchased from Salamanca Fresh. If you have purchased additional items that you may no longer need, we encourage you to share with those in your community, in particular, the elderly, disabled and most vulnerable.

Free parking (either on-site or street parking) is available at all Salamanca Fresh stores, except for the Salamanca Place store. Parking at this location is located at Salamanca Place, so is metered and requires coin payment. Hobart City Council parking information can be found here.

We care deeply about our environment and the impact that we have on it and are making continual steps to be as green as can be. For this reason, we do not supply plastic shopping bags, but rather provide a range of different options for carrying home your shopping. For more information, please click here.

The following options are available for carrying your purchases home:

• Customers’ own reusable shopping bags
• FREE cardboard box
• Paper bag (20c each)
• Salamanca Fresh hessian reusable bag ($2.90 each)

Salamanca Fresh donates to a number of charities and community groups every year, including local sporting clubs, local research foundations, Australian Heart Foundation and the Estia Street Festival.

Yes you can buy organic produce at Salamanca Fresh as we provide numerous organic products in all areas, including fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, and general groceries – just look out for the signs and labels.

Yes, we have a wide range of bread in all shapes and sizes.  Some of our suppliers are Pigeon Whole Bakers, Southern Bakehouse, The Brezel Backerei, Manna Bakehouse, Summer Kitchen Organic Bakery, Lipscombe Larder and Jackman & McRross. We also offer a favourity of sandwich loaves, crumpets and wraps.

At Salamanca Fresh we are working hard to make a positive impact on the environment. In order to make a difference in reducing plastic waste, we are encouraging customers to bring their own clean, reusable containers for deli and butcher purchases.

Our friendly staff welcome the use of customers’ own containers in all our stores. Clean BYO containers can be used to take home any weighted, individual or pre-sliced purchases from the deli and butcher, such as fresh meat and fish, antipasto, sushi, bread and cakes.

Salads and other items sold by volume can be taken home in small, medium or large takeaway containers provided by the store. Customers are welcome to return these clean containers to the store for reuse next time a salad purchase is made.

No unfortunately, due to our company health and safety policy.

Since we don’t know how clean the paper is, we don’t ask our staff to wrap bakery items in customers’ papers.

However, we do provide paper bags for carrying bread.

Our meat is sourced from northern and southern Tasmania, King Island and sometimes Cape Grim.

When supply of local meat is low, then we source from the mainland.

Absolutely – we proudly supply both free range chicken, both fresh and roasted (such as Marion Bay chicken) and free range eggs (such as Valley Brook eggs).

If you are interested in applying for a job at Salamanca Fresh, simply go to the footer of our website and click on the “Join Us” tab. Or can you click here.

Yes, you can place an order for a customised hamper at any of our stores. Just head in and ask at the deli – our friendly staff will be happy to help you to get your hamper absolutely right. If you can’t make it into the store, feel free to give your preferred store a call to arrange. Contact details for each location are here.

All Salamanca Fresh stores are open from 7am to 7pm, 7 days a week. However, in summer, some of our stores are open until 8pm.  These details get posted on our website and are updated accordingly.

Yes, you can purchase a take away coffee from our Bellerive, Lenah Valley, Sandy Bay and Huonville stores, any time during opening hours. We welcome and encourage BYO coffee cups at all locations.