Coles is supporting Australian fruit growers and food manufacturing, signing a new supply deal with Goulburn Valley fruit preserving company SPC that is expected to see an extra 1.8 million cans of Aussie fruit produced for Coles Brand every year.

Partnering with SPC, one of Australia's oldest providers of preserved fruit, Coles has introduced a new range of preserved fruit in cans – including 100% Australian peaches, pears and apricots.

Head of Coles Brand, Mark Field, said as part of Coles' Australia-first sourcing policy, the company was always looking for opportunities to work with Australian food growers and manufacturers to deliver great quality local products to customers.

"Coles is proud to work with an iconic Australian company such as SPC and local growers to offer products with Aussie-grown fruit," said Mr Field.

"We know our customers want top quality food, and equally they want to know that they are helping to support Australian farmers and Australian jobs."

The new range includes:

· Coles Brand Peaches in Syrup

· Coles Brand Pears in Syrup 

· Coles Brand Apricots in Syrup 

· Coles Brand Fruit Salad in Syrup

SPC Managing Director Reg Weine said the partnership with Coles is a great boost for SPC, which has been preserving fruit grown by Australian farmers for more than 100 years.

"It is great to see Coles continue to support local businesses and growers. The Coles brand volume will improve our factory utilisation and will also provide our growers with an additional outlet for their quality fruit."

Shepparton grower John Poulos said the partnership between Coles and SPC would allow farmers to sell fruit from more than 36,000 trees.  

"Each peach tree represents a seven-year commitment until they're producing fruit, and it's even longer for pears – you plant pears for your heirs – so to have a commitment from Coles for this fruit makes life so much easier," said Mr Poulos.

"It takes a while to get a tree cropping and there's not really any fresh market demand for the fruit, as these varieties are especially grown for canning. So, to be able to maintain these trees and not have to think about replanting new varieties is very important to us."

The new Coles Brand canned fruit range is now available at Coles supermarkets nationally.