Our Carlton Market Relaunches on November 25th!
We’re so excited to announce that thanks to funding from City of Melbourne, our Carlton Market will be coming back to Carlton Public Housing Estate on Fridays, in just one week’s time! 🍉
Our relaunch date is locked in for Friday the 25th of November and from that week on, we will be at the rear of 510 Lygon Street with our delicious, fresh, and affordable fruit and vegetables from 8am-12pm, each Friday.
Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Sally Capp, will be there on the day to officially announce the funding that will allow our Carlton Market to recommence operations for at least the next 12 months.
Here’s Madie, checking out the big undercover Market space outside the 510 Community Room!
Madie will be coming across from Pakenham, as our Carlton Market Manager, with Girija taking over as our new Pakenham Market Manager.
mEET Imal Shahab, OUR NEW GENERAL MANAGER
The Board of The Community Grocer is excited to welcome our new General Manager Imal Shahab. Imal comes to us from an amazing career encompassing working with most recently Australian Red Cross Lifeblood but previously at the United Nations with their Commission for Refugees. Imal has also been directly involved managing his family farms and fruit and vegetable business in his birthplace of Afghanistan. Imal has always had a passion for helping people in need and a strong sense of community. We look forward to what The Community Grocer can achieve under his management
A bit about Imal…
Imal has been an entrepreneur from a very young age, as well as, served in diverse roles such as governance, human resources, diversity, equity & inclusion, occupational health & safety, international relations/diplomacy, design thinking and change both nationally and internationally for over 23 years. Imal is passionate to instil a legacy that brings positivity in people's lives. Imal has a BBA and Masters. He makes good Afghan Kebabs and barbecue, his favourite fruit is mango, favourite herb: saffron, and favourite vegetable: truss tomatoes.
Welcome to the team, Imal!
We are also so pleased to announce that even though Tess has stepped down from her role as General Manager (which she has been in for more than two years!) she is not leaving The Community Grocer family. Tess is staying on to initially support Imal with the handover of the General Manager role and then she will be working part time as our Project and Impact Lead, where she will focus on various projects, fundraising, and stakeholder engagement.
We are so happy to have Tess continuing with our team!!
Meet Girija Wadhwani, our New Pakenham Market Manager
We're delighted to have Girija as our new Pakenham Market Manager!
If you've been to our Pakenham Market this month, you may have already met Girija, as she’s been getting familiar with her new Market Manager position, with Madie set to finish up as our Pakenham Market Manager on the 24th.
A bit about Girija…
Girija is a Mechanical Engineer and has worked as a Mechanical Engineer for 15 years with international engineering consultancies. She has lived in India, US, Singapore, Japan and finally settled in Melbourne, Australia.
Her love for cooking and homemade food is inspired by her grandparents, her mum and her daughter. Living in different countries exposed her to a variety of cuisines.
After settling in Australia, she got a chance to formalise and go deep in her passion for food. She enrolled in a Bachelor of Nutrition Science which gave her a whole new perspective about food. Currently the food that is available to us is part of a system which involves farmers, climate, country’s trade policies, country’s economic position, sustainability in food production and consumption and cultural preferences and dogma.
It is fascinating and frustrating at the same time. But she strongly believes that food needs to be simple as it is a basic human right and this has motivated her to use her passion to help the community.
Girija’s favourite fruits are Mangosteen and Sugar palm fruit and favourite vegetable is Okra.
We are pumped to have Girija's passion and enthusiasm join our Market Team!
Welcome on board, Girija!