Stay Audit-Ready: Meet Compliance Standards with Fresh Market Agent

Fresh Computer Systems Team
Dec 18, 2025
4 min read

For many produce wholesalers, the biggest compliance challenge is maintaining accurate records of every payment, deduction and traceability requirement while managing fast-moving stock and high-pressure trading conditions. This accuracy is becoming increasingly important as the sector expands. The latest Agricultural Commodities Report forecasts horticulture production to reach $19.2 billion in 2025–26. These demands are set within a strict regulatory framework, where the Horticulture Code of Conduct requires all trading relationships to operate under a written agreement for the sale of horticultural produce.

This blog outlines how a purpose-built ERP helps primary wholesalers stay audit-ready by embedding compliance into their daily workflows, automating key requirements, and reducing the risks associated with manual processes. It offers practical guidance to support both operational control and legislative obligations.

Source: DAFF.gov.au

Navigating Compliance in a Regulated Horticulture Market

The Horticulture Code sets out mandatory legal requirements for trade between growers and traders. Traders, whether agents or merchants, must publish terms of trade, have a valid HPA in place before trading, keep detailed records for at least six years, and act in good faith.

Many fresh produce wholesalers still rely on fragmented systems, spreadsheets and manual workflows. That leaves gaps in data, delayed approvals and weak audit trail visibility. Fresh Market Agent is a purpose-built ERP for fresh produce wholesalers that unites compliance and operations in a single environment, from grower contracting through inventory management, to payback and reporting.

With integrated compliance features, it enforces HPA rules at the point of payment, applies levy and commission deductions, and produces grower statements and audit logs that satisfy regulatory requirements.

Ensuring Accuracy in Grower Agreements and Payments

Every transaction between a grower and a wholesaler must occur under a signed HPA.

Fresh Market Agent handles this via:

Digital lodgement of HPAs in-system, with version control and party acceptance recorded.
Compliance checks before approving lot payback. Fresh Market Agent generates a warning or refuses approval if the payment terms breach the HPA.
Transparent pricing models that support both agent and merchant methods, including commission, formula-based pricing and agreed prices, with validation built into the system.
Automated grower statements at the end of each reporting period, showing pricing, deductions, levies and commissions, aligned with HPA requirements. This strengthens grower trust, improves compliance and helps internal auditors and regulators review quickly.

Automating Levies, Commission and Regulatory Reporting

Transactions in the fresh produce sector are subject to various financial deductions and regulatory obligations. These include horticultural levies (collected at the first point of sale), commissions to agents, and other industry-specific charges.

With Fresh Market Agent:

Levies are calculated and deducted automatically at the point of sale, accrued in a dedicated ledger account, and reported quarterly to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry (DAFF).
Commission models are built into the system for agent arrangements and formula models for merchants, ensuring payback aligns with the HPA.
Grower statements and regulatory reports are generated with minimal manual intervention, reducing the administrative burden and improving audit readiness.

This automation enables wholesalers to spend more time focusing on business insights and less time chasing spreadsheets, manual calculations, and compliance tasks.

Achieving Complete Traceability From Grower to Market

Traceability is essential in fresh produce because margin erosion, spoilage, quality failures and regulatory risks all grow without clear product-lot tracking.

Fresh Market Agent provides:

Lot-based tracking from the grower to the wholesaler: stock received from a grower is logged as a unique lot, and every subsequent sale is linked back to that lot, providing full traceability.
Quality assurance workflows: on receival, the system enforces temperature checks, QA tests, and immediate rejection or return of non-compliant produce. This protects both the wholesaler and the grower.
Yield and performance tracking: packaging and processing modules record yield, waste, labour and packaging materials used. This data helps identify growers whose pack sheds or processes are underperforming and supports quality improvement conversations.

Your Audit-Ready Operations Checklist

Use the following checklist to build operational discipline and audit readiness:

Ensure all growers have a valid HPA that is lodged and accepted before produce is traded.
Verify that your trader classification (agent or merchant) is correctly configured in your system.
Generate transparent grower statements that show pricing, costs, commissions, and deductions.
Document produce rejections within 24 hours of arrival and link them to the lot record.
Automate levy and commission deductions and produce quarterly reports for DAFF submission.
Track every product lot from grower receival to sale and maintain quality-assurance logs.
Ensure backups and reviews of compliance processes occur routinely, and staff are trained in system workflows.

Conclusion

Wholesalers in the fresh produce sector face unique regulatory and operational challenges, including mandatory horticulture produce agreements, commission/merchant models, levies, royalties, and full lot traceability. With the right ERP in place, you can turn compliance from a burden into an assurance.

By embedding compliance into your operations, you not only reduce audit risk but also strengthen supplier relationships, improve productivity and gain visibility across your business.

Want to Get Started with Fresh Market Agent?

If you are looking for a compliance-ready solution designed specifically for fresh produce wholesalers, get in touch with us about Fresh Market Agent. Our platform makes it easier to eliminate payment delays, enforce grower agreements, streamline workflows and stay audit-ready.

Visit our Fresh Market Agent page to view detailed features and get in touch with our expert about how the system can support your business.