Costa chief executive Marc Werner calls for increased export markets

The federal government needs to help open up more overseas fresh produce markets for Aussie growers, according to the boss of the nation’s biggest horticulture business.

17th July 2024 Costa Group Chief Executive Officer Marc Werner speaking at the Global Food Forum in Brisbane. Photo: Glenn Hunt / The Australian

Opportunities for Australian fresh produce growers are “currently going begging”.
That’s according to Costa chief executive Marc Werner, who is calling on the federal government to play a role in opening up more fresh produce markets for Australian growers.

Costa is Australia’s leading grower, packer and marketer of fresh fruit and vegetables, and Mr Werner said the opening up for further international markets will give producers greater leverage in their dealings with retailers.

“This is especially so where there is a domestic oversupply of a product which can depress pricing and grower returns. Having greater export market access can help to clear this over supply and open up opportunities for better pricing versus what might be on offer domestically,” he said.

“For example, it is currently not possible to export Australian-grown blueberries and avocados to China. In Queensland, grown avocados cannot be exported to Japan. We believe that the Australian Government needs to recognise and make clear to other countries that such access is a trade priority, just as they have done with re-establishing access to wine and lobsters into China,” he said.

Alongside the challenge of domestic oversupply, Mr Werner said that for Costa, like all growers, the cost of production had increased significantly over recent years, due to the inflationary environment and rising energy and labour costs.

Scrutiny on retailers from producers and customers alike has been abundant in recent times, but Mr Werner said there’s a balance that needs to be achieved.

“Obviously I can only comment on Costa’s experience, but overall our experience has been that the retailers have been fair and reasonable in the way that they have considered and responded to such cost increases,” he said.

“Everyone thinks farmers should receive a fair price for their products, but they also want lower prices at the supermarket checkout.”

Appointed chief executive on March 1 2024, Mr Werner has been overseeing the first 12 months under new owners – a Paine Schwartz-led consortium (including Driscoll’s and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation) – as well as growing Costa’s international farming footprint with new investment into Laos, in addition to existing markets in China and Morocco.

“We started on the Laos project with a trial about 24 months ago. The initial results of the trial clearly indicated it was a worthwhile value generating opportunity,” he said.

“The production footprint that we are setting up in Laos will provide for additional capacity in order to supply the Chinese market, but we are looking beyond China and looking to establish supply chain offers to some of the neighbouring countries, such as Vietnam.”

Australia’s horticulture industry is heavily reliant on seasonal overseas workers, with Costa no different, employing close to 3000 workers on the Pacific Labour Mobility scheme.

Mr Werner said with such a large scale Costa is well placed to manage any changes implemented to the scheme, but stressed it was essential that the program remained attractive and competitive to ensure a stable workforce.

“The PALM program is essential for us in order to harvest our crop, and it is the job of the Australian government to ensure that this program remains competitive for the Australian fresh produce industry, and we are quite confident that we will continue with a highly effective PALM program as we move into the future.”