Select Harvests CEO Paul Thompson to step down next year

From “the washroom industry” to agribusiness, Paul Thompson has ridden the peaks and troughs of Australia’s burgeoning almond industry.

Select Harvests boss Paul Thompson will step down next year after almost a decade at the helm, having grown the almond company almost eight-fold in value and more than three times in physical size.

But the timing of Mr Thompson’s departure coincides with one of the most difficult periods for the almond industry in years as prices plummet to historical lows amid the hangover of Covid and unseasonably wet weather.

Mr Thompson said he was leaving the industry with prices at similar levels to where they were when he started. Almonds have traded for about $7 a kilogram this year, compared to about $9 a kilogram in 2019.

“The overhang from Covid has really hurt the almond industry globally. We’re a product that’s reliant on snacking and that’s reliant on people being out and about. And because people were spending time at home we’ve got a stockpile of infantry. Consumer confidence is down and we’re seeing 10-year low prices,” Mr Thompson said.

“The past 18 months have been very challenging; Covid, managing people who can’t travel, the current floods and the wet season has been extremely difficult. In many ways you can buy yourself out of a drought, but it’s much more difficult to manage wet weather.”

Select Harvests chief executive Paul Thompson will step down in June next year after almost 11 years at the ASX-listed almond company.

Fortunately the impact of floodwater has been very minor on Select Harvests orchards, which span Victoria, NSW and South Australia.

Recent events aside, Mr Thompson has grown the Australian Securities Exchange-listed company exponentially since he stepped down as president of SCA Australia, a manufacturer of sanitary products and tissues, to join Select Harvests as managing director and chief executive in July 2012.

The business’ orchard footprint has grown from 2900ha to more than 9000ha under his watch through multiple acquisitions as well as greenfield development.

In that time the market capitalisation of the company has soared from around $80 million to $630 million.

Select Harvests’ chairman Travis Dillon said it was under Paul’s watch that the company has become a leading global integrated almond business.

“We have increased the capability and capacity of value adding threefold. Today we generate a third of our energy internally and recycle by composting one third of our annual biomass. This now positions Select Harvests as one of the most competitive and environmentally sustainable almond growers in the world,” Mr Dillon said.

FROM THE WASHROOM TO THE ORCHARD

Mr Thompson said he was lured away from what he calls the washroom industry to agribusiness because of the potential he saw in the nut industry.

“At the heart of it all I’m a marketer/businessman and I saw this business that had phenomenal macro growth in it. Select Harvests and the almond industry became misunderstood – post-drought and (the) Timbercorp collapse. All I saw was the opportunity,” he said.

Mr Thompson’s involvement has coincided with the massive expansion of almond plantations in Australia, from 130ha in 2012 to 1671ha in 2020, with production increasing from 49,585 tonnes 10 years ago to a forecast 148,000 tonnes this year.

Meanwhile, China has overcome Europe as the biggest export market for the nuts.

And Mr Thompson feels there is huge growth left in the Australian industry, which is transitioning to become less water intensive and carbon light.

WATER WOES TO CONTINUE

But amid the threat of government buyouts, water would continue to be a divisive topic for many years to come, he said.

“If I walked out of the industry and said what would I like to fix, it would be the whole water market structure. At the moment it’s being over-managed by four governments with different rules and aspirations, and it’s just the one water. If ever there was a case for centralisation this is it, but that’s not going to happen.

“We’re talking about a national resource. My preference is for the market to sort itself out but there’s disproportionate power in the market. I think there’s too much focus on who’s winning, instead of creating a more efficient and fairer system,” Mr Thompson said.

Come June next year the Melbourne resident will pass the baton on to David Surveyor who will finish up as chief executive of New Zealand agribusiness Alliance Group.

“I’ve had an amazing 10 years in the industry. I’ve seen parts of Australia that I didn’t realise were so beautiful and productive and it’s a time and stage of the company where we’ve got to a certain point where someone else has to take it to the next platform,” Mr Thompson said.