NOTICE: Hard copies of the Australian New Crops Newsletter are available from the publisher, Dr Rob Fletcher. Details of availability are included in the
Advice on Publications Available.Bernie McMullen
New South Wales Agriculture
Bathurst, NSW 2795
Telephone: 02 6333 4377
Facsimile: 02 6333 4491
A network consists of communication links between groups or organisations with common interests and goals and provides a means of exchanging information and ideas.
Horticultural development networks can share information on critical management issues such as:
The effectiveness of these networks can be measured by assessing:
An example of successful networking practices is Wirrilla Pty Ltd at Jugiong, NSW.
This company started exporting fresh green and purple asparagus to Japan in 1989 and now exports about 900 tonnes of asparagus, worth around $A9 million annually.
Wirrilla's market window in Japan is for three months of the year during the northern hemisphere off-season.
Product is grown on Wirrilla's own 1,200 hectare farm with other product grown under contract on surrounding farms in the Jugiong district.
The asparagus is grown to very demanding customer specifications under a strict quality assurance program.
It is carefully hand cut, and a special payment incentive scheme for cutters ensures the product is harvested the right way.
The asparagus is then cleaned, trimmed and graded to correct size and weights, and packaged into retail-ready packs for direct resale through supermarkets.
Wirrilla has a state of the art, hydro-cooled, export licensed packing facility.
The company employs around 500 people through the main asparagus season, with around 280 of these employed in the packing shed.
The Japanese market takes up to 90% of the product exported. Wirrilla is the only value-added (bunched, graded and packed) Australian asparagus producer supplying the Japanese market on a regular basis.
The asparagus is marketed as Power Brand.
A small volume is also exported to Singapore, Korea, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and the UK.
Around 190 tonnes of lower quality product is sold annually on the domestic market through one of the major chains.
Recently, a relatively small volume (480 kg per week) of first grade product has been sold to Sydney hotels and restaurants that are looking for a high grade quality asparagus.
They have been willing to pay double the price for Wirrilla's high quality asparagus, compared to the price of asparagus offered in the local fresh markets.
The company says labour costs in Australia are making Australia less competitive, both with Japanese domestic labour costs and export competitors like the USA.
The very unfair add-on labour costs (such as payroll tax, workers' compensation and superannuation charges) need to be reduced urgently if Australian exporters are to remain competitive.
If it wasn't for the seasonal supply gap, the company doubts it would be competitive. According to the company, the USA cost of production for most horticultural products is substantially less than Australia's.
The company believes operators have to be expert in growing, packing, transport, export logistics and marketing to survive.
Wirrilla has a distinct advantage of operating as a single corporate entity with effective control over the product from farm to supermarket shelf.
This is an unusual situation in the horticultural industry. It overcomes the problem of small growers with insufficient production trying to enter the export market separately.
Consistent quality is also a problem when a number of small growers supply product.
This problem can be overcome when quality assurance schemes are put into place.
This example shows in a practical way, the various networks that companies can use.
The important principles of this case are:
Any claims made by authors in the Australian New Crops Newsletter are presented by the Editors in good faith. Readers would be wise to critically examine the circumstances associated with any claims to determine the applicability of such claims to their specific set of circumstances. This material can be reproduced, with the provision that the source and the author (or editors, if applicable) are acknowledged and the use is for information or educational purposes. Contact with the original author is probably wise since the material may require updating or amendment if used in other publications. Material sourced from the Australian New Crops Newsletter cannot be used out of context or for commercial purposes not related to its original purpose in the newsletter
Contact: Dr Rob Fletcher, School of Land and Food, The University of Queensland Gatton College, 4345; Telephone: 07 5460 1311 or 07 5460 1301; Facsimile: 07 5460 1112; International facsimile: 61 7 5460 1112; Email:
r.fletcher@mailbox.uq.edu.au[
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GK; latest update 6 June 1999 by: RF