Fruit Hut opens in Burwood – Story and pictures by Marie Pietersz

Samu Sovis has gone from IT student, to singer/songwriter/DJ, to green grocer. This young entrepreneur is Burwood’s newest kid on the block, opening for business in March this year. His shop at 9/32 Burwood Heights Shopping Centre, Burwood Highway, Burwood East, in Melbourne’s east. is holding its own with shoppers over his neighbours, the giant Woolworths store and the Chinese grocery store.

Samu’s experience in the retail industry, working five years at Ikea in Richmond, followed by 15 years as the manager of fresh produce in Coles supermarkets, has given him the edge and skill in the way his displays his fruit and vegetables. Shoppers are surprised to find fresh produce laid out in supermarket style, except it is not a supermarket but a green grocer. Working and learning on the job in Coles gave Samu his entrepreneurial dream. “I thought I could do the same thing I do in Coles if I had my own fresh fruit and vegetable store,” he said, and that’s when it all started.

The latest addition to his fresh produce is his line of Sri Lankan products, which is taking off with no advertising, just word-of-mouth.”My prices are very competitive and a lot cheaper than some of my competitors,” Samu says, as he invites shoppers to take advantage of his large shop and ample car parking, which is a luxury most other Sri Lankan grocery stores aren’t able to offer due to location.

Samu has something else to boast about – his pretty, new wife, Pubuduni, a former Sri Lankan Telecom ‘Metropolitan’ employee, who he married last year in Sri Lanka and who now runs the store with him – he does the buying and she does the selling. ‘My dream is to build this up,’ Samu says of his business. ‘It is hard work but I will try. After that I will think of having a family,’ he says, of his plans. Hailing from Boralessa, Sri Lanka, these young entrepreneurs are making a name for themselves in Melbourne, Australia, to be counted among one of the first Sri Lankans to run a green grocer cum Sri Lankan grocery store.

If you live in Burwood and surrounds, you now have your local green grocer run by Sri Lankans. Samu and Pubudu ask that you visit Fruit Hut and be among its many satisfied customers. Call Fruit Hut on 0402 417 084 if you need any further information or,even better, visit there soon. The shop is open 7 days a week from 8 am to 7 pm Monday to Friday and 8 am to 6 pm on Saturday and Sunday. Meet the owners and say you heard about the shop through eLanka.

Story and pictures by Marie Pietersz