Trumps is an Australian Owned Family Business that began operations in 1939. We have grown from a Brisbane banana ripening business to an international wholesaler, distributor & processor of nuts, dried fruits, cooking needs and more.
Trumps prides itself on our rich history of being a successful family-run business that has gone through multiple adversities to become a market leader in our industry. Please see Trumps history below:
Dr John Leslie Dart, a Brisbane eye specialist purchased a property on the western side of Mt Cootha. He immediately planted bananas but was unhappy with the marketing arrangements operating at that time.
Dr Dart purchases Stewart’s Banana Ripeners and changed the name to “Trumps”. The premises were located in Turbot Street opposite Little Roma Street – a stone’s throw from George Street.
Dr Dart’s son, John Pendan Dart, joins the business. The adjoining fruit and vegetable agency was purchased which enabled the business to establish two modern temperature controlled ripening rooms in 1952.
John Pendan Dart leaves the business to work in the US for 12 months. On his return he worked in other family businesses returning to Trumps in 1956.
A good year for peanuts in the Alstonville area (near Lismore) and Lismore Banana Company, who had a roaster, encourage Trumps to sell roasted nuts in their shells. Next year nuts were short and the prices increased so a new roaster was located under John Dart’s house.
The fruit and vegetable markets were shifted to their present position at Rocklea. Trumps was located at Section “1A” and we like to say, facetiously, “at the smarter end of the market”. Being on the end of the block was not the best location for selling fruit, vegetables and bananas. However, it was convenient for nut and dried fruit buyers to pick up their goods as they left the market.
Peanuts were short, even in Kingaroy, and to import them Trumps needed quarantine premises. The little house at Moorooka was “Trumps” first real “factory”.
The year of the big flood in S E Queensland. It is said “As the last case of bananas floated away so did the ripening activity at Trumps”. However, the knowledge and benefit of temperature control, learned in banana ripening became the mainstay of Trumps’ success as Queensland’s first specialist nut and dried fruit wholesaler. The factory at Moorooka was extended.
Dr Dart decided to sell out his financial interest in Trumps to the second generation. In the ten years from 1974 to 1984 sales grew from $741,000 to $3,600,000 – a 385.82% increase. The little old house was replaced and the building next door acquired by the company.
John P Dart’s son, Declan John Dart, joined the firm while studying at QUT for his Degree in Business. He upgraded the computing functions of the company.
By 1st July 1996 sales had grown to $8,400,000. Declan Dart took over the company after he completed his degree with a major in Accounting. He became the third generation owner.
Trumps broadened its horizons including many new products suitable for the Restaurant and Catering trade. That year sales topped $10,000,000. The new owner, Declan Dart, commenced a Professional MBA (Master of Business Administration) on a part-time basis graduating on 6th February 1999.
Trumps’ reaches 60 years in business and sales had exploded to $15,000,000. The company needed more space to cope with its expansion. On 30th October 2000 Trumps shifted to its current factory which can accommodate 2,500 pallet spaces in a state-of-the-art cool room. This ensures product integrity and quality for all the company’s clients.
In this very short period of time a further extension to the factory and warehouse was added. This extension gives a capacity to store some 7000 pallets all under temperature controlled conditions.
With the ever expanding national business base Trumps now operate warehouses not only in Queensland but also in Perth and Auckland – New Zealand.
Trumps continued to grow by expanding the range of product offered at home and
internationally despite the affects of the GFC (Global Financial Crisis) and the adverse worldwide weather conditions that severely affect product supply.
October 2010 Trumps launched our My
Organics Brand and relaunched Earth Bounty Brand. At Trumps we are very passionate about quality Natural and Organic Nuts, dried Fruit and other food ingredients and we see these two Brands as a way to reach as many consumers as possible.
On the 13th January our Rocklea facility was inundated with approximately 2m of water. We first entered our site on the 14th of Jan and nothing could have prepared us for what we found. 2 meters of water through the site had destroyed equipment and a lot of stock. Our 1st packing machine was producing stock within 2 weeks before the end of January and had all lines running by May. We would not have survived without the help and support of
an army of volunteers, our suppliers and
our customers.
Trumps open a new factory in Archerfield purpose-built to produce all products that contain Gluten including Mueslis. This is the first step in our Allergen Reduction plan.
Trumps open a new factory in Acacia Ridge. This purpose-built factory was built to produce allergen Free products. Trumps Launched the Earth Bounty Snacks to Go Range in September 2013. This was a successful launch with EB Snacks to Go Protein Mix 30g winning six awards
for innovation.
Trumps move from outsourced warehousing to own warehousing in Perth to provide a more responsive and faster service to our increasing number of customers in WA. Auckland warehouse is closed and Trumps’ NZ customers serviced directly from its Rocklea facility.
Trumps was proud to partner our Earth’s Bounty & MyOrganics™ brands with the Children’s Hospital Foundation. Since that year we have made a 5c donation from every pack sold of the two brands. We have also participated in fundraising events such as Bridge to Brisbane, Channel 9 Telethon and more.
In early 2020 the world changed, and like everyone else Trumps was heavily impacted by the pandemic. Trumps had to overcome issues in nearly every aspect of the business. However, we are very proud that we worked through every lockdown. We continued to offer consistent hours to all staff during COVID-19.
Unfortunately, in late February 2022 Trumps was impacted by a flood, 11 years from the last. Through a huge effort from the Trumps community & the local city council, Trumps was dispatching orders just over a week after being underwater.
As an executive chef, I love using the Trumps brand in my kitchen. We support local Australian companies that are eco-friendly and Trumps fits that bill. We also appreciate their allergen segregation. We buy their nuts, seeds, dried fruits, mixes, grains, herbs, spices and use their breakfast items including their gluten-free muesli for our breakfast buffet. We even buy their Mother Megs biscuits that they make in Toowoomba, our guests love them.
VOCO Surfers Paradise
Trumps has been our supplier from the beginning, we appreciate their fast turnaround on orders and extensive range of competitively priced products.
Our representative makes it easy as she is fast and always extremely helpful. Even when after specific stock she is always able to help us, we would recommend Trumps to anyone!
Natural Tucker
The Brisbane Racing Club have enjoyed a long-standing relationship with Trumps supplying high-quality ingredients to our kitchens.
Moreover, Trumps offers our business ongoing solutions with the peace of mind that products are safe to use and easily allergen identifiable in a consumer segment that is now a lifestyle-driven market.
Brisbane Racing Club
