UPFRONT vale

A pioneer of WA’s fresh-cut salad industry

The Dobra family, their friends, suppliers and customers farewelled the beloved patriarch of the Dobra family, Barry Kevan Dobra, on the 7th October.

Words Laura Dobra

BARRY was well known and respected in the vegetable industry, especially for establishing The Loose Leaf Lettuce Company with his family — one of the first and few growers/ processors of fresh-cut salads in WA.

Barry’s early experience in WA’s vegetable industry began in Spearwood, working in his parents’ market garden, trucking, and running a store with his wife, Maureen, supplying all the necessary equipment, tools, irrigation parts and machinery to growers.

Growing many vegetables, including carrots and onions, Barry’s good growing reputation followed him as he moved from Spearwood to Mandurah, then to Gingin, where his passion for innovation and his dedication to the vegetable industry paid off.

Barry’s daughters, Deanne and Simone, were early suppliers of loose baby leaf lettuce to the WA market, requiring very long hours in the field to hand-cut the produce and prepare it for delivery. This was the beginning of The Loose Leaf Lettuce Company. Being in their early 20s, the girls wanted to get out and see the world, so Barry, Maureen and their eldest son, Kevan, took over the business.

One of the first things that Barry and Kevan did was to mechanise the baby leaf lettuce harvesting process. After visiting overseas producers, they custom-built their first mechanical baby leaf harvester.

From those humble beginnings, Barry’s passion for innovation led to further improvements to the harvesting process, increasing production exponentially.

When Barry’s son Peter joined The Loose Leaf Lettuce Company, Barry enthusiastically supported Peter using his IT skills and research knowledge to introduce advanced machinery to wash and pack the baby leaf products. Now the business not only grows but also processes more than 20 tonnes of fresh-cut salads weekly.

In his later years, Barry told his family that he had initially hated market gardening because his dad had made him do it! However, he never regretted the time he spent with his family, establishing The Loose Leaf Lettuce Company.

While Barry will be sorely missed, the Dobra family promises to carry on his legacy, inspiring future generations to be passionate about growth and innovation in the vegetable industry.