Winning monthly award was A Tasty Surprise for David and Phoebe Watts
LOCAL fine food store and florist A Tasty Surprise, owned by well-known locals David and Phoebe Watts, is the winner of Moree Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down! Essential Business Appreciation Award for June, 2020.
August this year marks a decade since A Tasty Surprise first opened its doors in Moree and in later years, Phoebe’s Flowers was incorporated into the business.
The successful business was established when David and Phoebe recognised a need for high quality gourmet products in the district and decided to give Moree access to a wide range of quality products.
“We have had lots of changes over the last 10 years. We started out primarily offering food products and some homewares and as time has moved on and the demand from our customers, we have moved into bigger and better premises offering food, homeware, giftware and floristry,” Phoebe said.
“We have started to send a lot more hampers around Australia recently and this has enabled us to showcase the Moree district.
“Moree and district is full of friendly people and I love nothing more than coming to work and chatting to the locals and visitors to our great town. I really enjoy having my children be a part of the business helping out when they can, said Phoebe, born-and-bred in Moree and from a well-known local farming family.
A Tasty Surprise was nominated by local dental assistant Desley Towers.
“A Tasty Surprise always has top quality flowers that last for weeks and a huge range of specialist foods and supplies, although they have had big restrictions on supplies during COVID-19,” Desley said.
“It is great service from all the family and staff and they pack and send whatever to where ever for the personal Moree touch.”
When business owner Phoebe Watts was asked how she felt about being nominated and winning the award, she said: “We would like to thank Desley for the nomination and all of her support. We always try hard to please our customers and it is lovely to hear from our customers how much they enjoy our products and appreciate us, even when it has been difficult to source things this year.”
David and Phoebe thanked their loyal followers for the continued support over the past 10 years and to all people who voted for the popular gourmet food and florist.
“We do not do what we do for this recognition but it is nice to know that the service we offer is appreciated,” Phoebe said.
“We are very blessed to have a very loyal customer base, who continues to support our business. The support shown by the community during the past couple of years during the drought and then into COVID has been wonderful.
“We have tried hard over the years to offer Moree and district something that is not easily sourced elsewhere. We believe that Moree has a very good offering of small unique retail businesses and this is often highlighted by visitors to our store who make the comment how nice the shopping in town is. We are also very proud to support many events in the district through our sponsorship.
“COVID has been a challenging experience as it has been for everyone.
“Fortunately, we have not had to close through this time and the support from the community has been wonderful,” she said.
Phoebe said COVID-19 has brought more home-cooked meals to the table.
“We have seen people start to cook more and experiment with new recipes. I am pleased we have been able to support the community during this time, providing flowers and food to their families and friends, particularly around Easter and Mother’s Day when visiting was limited,” she said.
“We offer a free delivery service in town so that has been utilised by a lot of customers.”
To find out all that A Tasty Surprise has to offer, visit their website at www.phoebes.com.au.
Nominations are currently open for the July Moree Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down! Essential Business Appreciation Award.
If you want to nominate a local business that is COVID SAFE and has excellent customer service go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/688681601261419/
Media Release: Sunday, July 12, 2020