{"id":848465,"date":"2026-08-08T22:52:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T22:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/848465\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T22:52:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T22:52:21","slug":"family-who-introduced-broccolini-to-australia-put-13m-home-on-the-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/848465\/","title":{"rendered":"Family who introduced broccolini to Australia put $13m home on the market"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kristy<\/p>\n

August 9, 2026 \u2014 5:00am<\/p>\n

Save<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

AAA<\/p>\n

A Vaucluse home owned by the family behind a fruit and vegetable company that introduced broccolini to Australia in 1999 is for sale.<\/p>\n

Local sources not authorised to comment publicly say the price guide is $13 million.<\/p>\n

Michael Simonetta, the son of the late founder of Perfection Fresh Australia and the company\u2019s former chief executive officer, and his wife Maryann, bought the existing property on the site for $2,015,000 in 2005, records show.<\/p>\n

\"AA Vaucluse home with knockout views has been offered to the market. \"TheThe vendors are behind a fruit and vegetable company that introduced broccolini to the Australian market. <\/p>\n

They transformed it into a four-bedroom, four-bathroom abode that was completed six years ago, as stated on the listing.<\/p>\n

Simonetta\u2019s late father Antonio Simonetta founded Perfection Fresh Australia in 1978. The company, which grows and supplies fresh fruit and vegetables in Australia, is known for its innovations including trademarked items broccolini \u2013 a hybrid of broccoli and Chinese kale \u2013 and kumato tomatoes.<\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael Simonetta.Peter Braig<\/p>\n

Broccolini is a specialty variety grown in Australia by Perfection Fresh Australia and its partners, and the company was granted exclusive rights to the label in Australia in 1999. It is stocked in Woolworths, Coles and independent retailers in Australia.<\/p>\n

In September 2025, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission commenced civil proceedings in the Federal Court against four suppliers, including Perfection Fresh Australia, and three senior executives, not from Perfection Fresh Australia, for alleged price fixing while supplying fresh vegetables to Aldi supermarkets, in breach of Australia\u2019s cartel laws.<\/p>\n

The alleged price fixing involves the supply of produce including broccoli, cauliflower, iceberg lettuce, cucumber, Brussels sprouts and zucchini, to stores in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland between 2018 and 2024.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Lingerie<\/a><\/p>\n

Simonetta retired as chief executive officer of Perfection Fresh Australia in 2025 but remains a director of the company, per ASIC records. In a LinkedIn post shared by Perfection Fresh Australia last year, they announced his appointment to the board of directors at Protected Cropping Australia, a company that represents commercial growers nationwide.<\/p>\n

This masthead is not suggesting any wrongdoing by Simonetta or that he retired due to the matter before court.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Perfection Fresh Australia told this masthead on Friday: \u201cIn relation to any property purchase\/sale, this is a private matter for our former CEO whose retirement was announced in February 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn relation to the ACCC proceedings that commenced in September 2025, it would not be appropriate for Perfection Fresh to provide comment on that matter while it is before the courts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA renovation on the property was completed six years ago. <\/p>\n

The tri-level mansion for sale features a games room with wet bar and cellar, a gym and steam room, al fresco kitchen by the pool, a rooftop terrace with knockout harbour views and lift access.<\/p>\n

Richard Faludi and Nicholas Malouf of Raine & Horne Double Bay are the listing agents and both declined to comment on any aspect of the listing when contacted by this masthead.<\/p>\n

Tech exec lists Mosman home <\/p>\n

Ed Lenta, vice president of Asia Pacific and Japan at ClickHouse, a company that describes itself as a database for AI, and his wife Aruni, have put their Mosman home on the market.<\/p>\n

Local sources say the price guide for the renovated five-bedroom, three-bathroom abode is $10 million to $11 million. Records show Mr Lenta bought the house for $2.9 million in 2009.<\/p>\n

\"AA Mosman abode on one of the suburb\u2019s most desirable streets is for sale. \"LocalLocal sources say the price guide is $10 million to $11 million. <\/p>\n

Mr Lenta\u2019s most recent role, based in Singapore, was announced by ClickHouse in a press release shared to the company\u2019s website in June this year. He was previously general manager of Asia Pacific and Japan at Databricks, a cloud-based data platform, and spent time at Amazon Web Services.<\/p>\n

\"EdEd LentaAFR<\/p>\n

Mr Lenta also owns a four-bedroom, four-bathroom residence in Sydney\u2019s Palm Beach with uninterrupted ocean views, purchased for $11.8 million in 2025.<\/p>\n

The house for sale features hardwood floors, a modern kitchen and bi-fold doors that lead to alfresco entertaining spaces including a mosaic-tiled pool and spa.<\/p>\n

Geoff Smith and Geoff Allan of Ray White Lower North Shore Group are selling the home. Both declined to comment on any aspect of the listing when contacted by this masthead.<\/p>\n

Darlinghurst gem for sale<\/p>\n

A renovated, heritage-listed mansion in Darlinghurst built around 1860 is for sale with an auction guide of $28 million.<\/p>\n

\"AA heritage-listed mansion in Darlinghurst that has undergone an extensive renovation is set to go under the hammer. \"TheThe transformation was completed in 2021. <\/p>\n

Vendor Vanessa Wong, the founder of Australian jewellery brand Arley and a brand consultant at Stoneleigh Consulting, told this masthead that while she has loved the six-bedroom, four-bathroom home, even more so after renovating it, the time has come to downsize.<\/p>\n

Wong was transferred ownership by family members without monetary consideration in 2016, records show. The property last sold for $3.18 million in 1990.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Tim<\/a><\/p>\n

The renovation was completed in 2021 with a redesign by Brian Hess and landscaped grounds by Dangar Barin Smith. There is a marble kitchen, French oak floors, hand-applied Marrakech plaster walls, a sculptural staircase and bespoke lighting.<\/p>\n

Entertainment zones include a mineral pool, a terrace and gardens.<\/p>\n

Clint Ballard and Ben Cassen of Sydney Sotheby\u2019s International Realty are selling the abode.<\/p>\n

Save<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

\"KristyKristy Johnson<\/a> is a prestige property reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"August 9, 2026 \u2014 5:00am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":848466,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99],"class_list":["post-848465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=848465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/848466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=848465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=848465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=848465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}