Sam Mercorella
Salvatore (Sam) Mercorella was born on 5th July 1945 in San Giorgio La Molara, in the Campania region, Italy. Sam’s father, Antonio, arrived in Adelaide in 1951. After three years his wife, Angelina and four children joined him. In 1956, they bought a property of 5.5 acres at Gorge Road, alongside the reservoir and grew mainly onions. When Sam began working in the garden in 1962 the family leased another 10 acres and grew lettuce, beans and root crops. Sam began growing for supermarket chains across Australia and moved into export sales. The family land was subdivided from the 1970s and built a retirement village on part of it.
