AUGUST 2025
Cover Story
. 21
‘Inflation and the reliability of supply chains has been a huge challenge for us. Electricity costs are huge’ GREG QUINN
FROM PAGE 19
quality, and what isn’t,” Quinn says. “It places a lot more reliance and a lot more focus on the provenance of the product; how it’s grown, where it’s grown, and the quality that goes into the bottle.” T HE transition has lifted and stabilised fruit prices for growers, allowing them to reinvest in their orchards, a crucial factor for industry growth. Quinn points to the dairy industry as a cautionary tale. “If you rip the base out of farmers and they can’t make money, they’re not going to be able to invest in their own businesses,” Quinn says. “(Dairy) farmers are a great test case, and they’re not able to invest in their practices if they are not making a return. It then creates a spiral where you’re seeing supply come out of the market every year until it hits a crisis point. “People go, ‘Crap, we’re short, we can’t put products on the shelf. What do we do now?’ Generally, most people compromise on quality. And that then drives another race to the bottom in terms of the market growth and categories.” Grove believes its vertically integrated model helps avoid some of these pitfalls. It helps them keep a higher-quality product in the marketplace and grows the industry. Estens says bigger processing companies can “hold a gun at the farmer’s head” and force some growers to hold oranges on the tree past their normal picking day, which leads to lower yields the following year. “We think we can do a far better job by being farmers as well,” he says. The company’s approach is about taking a longer-term “deep breath” and building sustainably, rather than chasing short-term gains. This strategy, Quinn says, benefits not just Grove but Australia’s entire agriculture industry. “That’s going to drive more investment because people will see a better return,” he says. “They’re getting better prices, they’re more sustainable, they’re getting better longevity out of their orchards, managing water better – all of that.” A stronger, premiumised fresh-juice market, he adds, can help underpin the risk profile for growers, providing a buffer against the volatility of the table-fruit export market.
Dick Estens started planting citrus trees near Moree NSW in 2009 and now oversees a business that grows 500,000 in two districts.
“Because of the higher costs in running those orchards, harvesting, picking, everything else, (the growers) have to get a premium in the market, and it’s generally not there,” Quinn says. “If we can continue to help drive that fresh juice market, premiumise it and drive it more into export, that’s going to create better long-term opportunities for fruit growers, not just us.” This approach to longevity and investment in the supply chain is reflected in Grove’s 22-year partnership with Coles.
“We bring them out to our farms, talk to them about our development program,” Quinn says. “They might not see oranges on certain orchards for another 15 years, but they understand how we’re developing our orchards, where and how we’re looking to invest, where we’re looking to get more efficient, drive better quality and outcomes. It’s a great partnership that goes both ways. “(It means) both us and them can have a better value proposition for the consumer.
CONTINUED PAGE 23
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator