AUGUST 2025
Cover Story
. 23
Organics, longer term, will probably come back and be a bigger part of the supply chain, and using less chemicals is going to be quite important for that consumer sustainability.” Estens agrees. As the world population stabilises, if it’s not organic and recyclable, people will tend to move away from the product, he says. But alongside those long-term shifts, Grove is wrestling with more immediate pressures — inflation and soaring energy costs among them.
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“We do this with all the supermarkets as trust and partnerships are vital to all our success.” While Grove’s expansion will bolster its own operations, the company hopes it will also help lift Australia’s entire fruit industry. T HE sector-wide shift from concentrate-based juice to fresh has dovetailed with a broader consumer move
“Inflation and the reliability of supply chains has been a huge challenge for us. Electricity costs are huge,” Quinn points out. “You can’t keep passing inflation on to the consumer. So we’re spending a lot of capital to get more efficient on our farms and factories, because we have to work hard to offset the inflation so we can provide value to consumers.” Geopolitical instability has only added to the pressure. Escalating tensions in the Middle East threaten further fuel price hikes, while disruptions to shipping routes are already hitting
‘Whether it’s third- party suppliers or supermarkets or customers, we’ll drop people and won’t do business with people that don’t have the same principles as us’ GREG QUINN
towards healthier choices — a trend that gathered pace during the pandemic. “Once Covid hit, people became a hell of a lot more conscious about what they were eating and drinking, so that’s the big change that’s helping growers domestically,” Quinn says.
Meeting this demand while still offering value for money requires constant innovation. “The way (juice) is packaged, how it is advertised, and how different flavours are used to attract new consumers to the business will all be important,” he says. Sustainability, too, is a major focus for the Grove management team. “The types of packaging – milk bottles versus PET, poppers with straws, higher additives – will be less appealing to parents,” Quinn says. “We’ll also see more and more pushback on chemicals.
home through alerts from logistics partners. Quinn says greater stability in the energy sector — and more certainty around skilled labour visa turnaround times in regional areas — will go a long way towards easing cost pressures on businesses like Grove Juice. And help ensure the juice remains worth the squeeze.
The Grove team (below) is responsible for more than $100 million in juice sales annually, from fruit grown at Moree (above) and Forbes in NSW. Pictures: Sascha Estens and Jaz Morrison
Conor Fowler is a reporter for The Weekly Times
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