Might of the Murraylands

SA Weekend Escape Magazine | 30 October 2016 | Elisa Black

There’s more to the Mighty Murray than watersports, barbecues and holidays. The Murraylands has an array of world-class businesses, from olive oil to steel, that are also relied upon by city folk.

To read the full article click the following: Might of the Murraylands

Beston Marketplace, an innovative online platform for consumers to purchase direct from the producer has been launched.

Beston will develop quality packs that will incorporate a great way for smaller premium producers to access the on-line market domestically and internationally other high quality regional produce for sale.

 

Link to website: http://www.bestonmarketplace.com.au/

Murraylands businesses need certainty, Economic Development Board hears

Peri Strathearn | Murray Valley Standard | 5 September 2016

Advisors: Economic Development Board members Rob Kerin and Raymond Spencer visit Monarto Zoo. Photo: Peri Strathearn.

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Power and water security are the biggest barriers to economic growth in the Murraylands, according to one of the state government’s key advisors on the matter.

Raymond Spencer and his Economic Development Board colleagues visited the region last Wednesday and Thursday to meet businesses and civic leaders and find out what to whisper in Premier Jay Weatherill’s ear.

Through visits to Bowhill Engineering’s workshop, Costa Adelaide Mushrooms’ facility, Thomas Foods’ meat works, Beston Pure Foods’ cheese factory and a soiree at Murray Bridge Regional Gallery, the theme they picked up was a need for more certainty.

A secure water supply and affordable power and water would do wonders, he said, as would a greater willingness for people to consider working in the food industry.

“How do we work with high school people in year 10, 11 and 12 and let them see the career opportunities in some of the industries here?” he asked.

“At Thomas Foods, you may come in on the floor, but most of their management came out of that.

“You need people with skills in not just food management, but robotics, engineering, global marketing.

“People don’t see the opportunities, and it’s some quite high-paying jobs.”

Board member Rob Kerin said the same was true of meat processing towns elsewhere.

“Australians don’t want to work in meat works,” he said.

“But some of these jobs you wouldn’t ever see a carcass.”

Still, Mr Spencer said the Murraylands’ future was not all about the food industry.

The Bend Motorsport Park would be a game-changer, he said, and would employ 1600 people after it was finished next year.

There was also much talk about the potential for more regional tourism, how to tap into the Murraylands’ proximity to Adelaide Airport and the direct flights to China starting up this year; and how simplifying regulation of the River Murray could make life easier for everyone.

The board meets four times per year, once in a regional setting.

 

To read more visit: http://www.murrayvalleystandard.com.au/story/4142061/business-needs-surety/

Beston Pure Foods’ success at award

 

To read more visit: http://www.murrayvalleystandard.com.au/story/4090826/beston-win-at-awards/

16 May 2016 | Casey Gregory | Murray Valley Standard

In a $275million investment, Ingham’s Enterprises have announced they will be expanding their facilities to double its capacity in breeding, hatching, processing, feed production and product distribution across South Australia.

Big win: Investment Attraction SA’s Nicolle Sincock and Mayor Brenton Lewis
with Ingham’s Exec. Chairman Mick McMahon and Exec. General Manager Des Hindson.

 

The Monarto, Yumali and Murray Bridge sites are among 15 sites that will be developed.

Premier Jay Weatherill announced the investment and said new jobs will be created through the expansion.

“It will mean 700 jobs in construction and 850 jobs ongoing full time jobs which have great security,” he said.

However, when looking at the breakdown of jobs, the Murraylands and Mallee will only see around 30 direct and ongoing jobs while most will be at Bolivar in North Adelaide.

It is predicted that Yumali will have 25 new direct jobs, the Murray Bridge Feedmill will produce four new direct jobs and the Murraylands Hatchery will provide none. There will, however, be around 400 jobs provided indirectly through transport and trades.

Ingham’s Chief Excecutive Chairman Mick McMahon said the reason for the investment is that chicken is the most popular meat in Australia and the demand for it continues to grow.

“We are investing around $20 million in doubling the size of the hatchery here at Murraylands, around $70 million to expand breeder farms at Monarto, and new Greenfields site at Yumali,” he said.

“We see SA as a hub for future production and investment.

“SA is very well positioned in food and has good access to grains and production and also transport.”

Rural City of Murray Bridge Mayor Brenton Lewis said it is a great investment.

“If we didn’t have this here, the chickens would be coming from Victoria,” he said.

“It will provide plenty of job opportunities for young people in the Murraylands and at the moment, the food industry is a standout.”

He said it is great to have the new development at Yumali.

“It is a result of bio-security, the farm has to be far enough away from other animal farms and also water and lakes,” Mr Lewis said.

“I was involved with the area mapping and often we would find a spot that was good for infrastructure but not bio-security, or the other way around.”

The Yumali site got full development approval this week and is expected to be up and running by February 2017.

Construction of new sheds will continue over the next two to three years.

For further reading: http://www.murrayvalleystandard.com.au/story/3910365/inghams-plan-to-expand/

22nd September 2016 | Vanessa Liebelt | Regional Development Australia Murraylands & Riverland

            

Thomas Foods International are 2016 sponsors of the Australian Food Industry Awards Program, which recognises and celebrates individuals and businesses that are making their mark in the food industry by demonstrating their outstanding vision, leadership and innovation.

The Award program provides the opportunity for these ambitious and enthusiastic food professionals to raise the bar and inspire our dynamic food industry to greater achievement.

For further reading: http://safoodawards.com.au/

27 June 2016 | Peri Strathearn | Murray Valley Standard

A shift away from mass production may secure the future of the Murraylands’ dairy industry, local processing company Beston Pure Foods says.

The company will market its cheese under a new brand: Edwards Crossing, the original name of the European settlement that became Murray Bridge.

Beston Global Food Company (BFC) chairman Robert Sexton said the nod to the past showed the company intended to play a long game.

“Our vision for the Murray Bridge factory is to move away from its previous commodity-style, mass productions practices to producing high quality-style cheeses,” he said.

“The Edwards Crossing brand recognises the more than 50 years of history that underpins our factory.

“The initiatives…represent a commitment by BFC to help put sustainable long-term growth back into the dairy industry is South Australia.

“Part proceeds from the sale of Edwards Crossing cheese will be used to purchase extra milk from local producers, which will be used for a cheddar cheese that will be aged for three years.

Some profits will also be spent improving the welfare of South Australia’s dairy farmers, with guidance from the SA Dairyfarmers Association.

The first cheese to bear the label will be a limited-edition cheddar, produced from South Australian milk, hand-dipped in black wax and sold in independent South Australian supermarkets.

The change in production, which will create up to 60 ongoing jobs, will be funded in part by a $2.5 million state government grant announced earlier this month.

State Agriculture Minister Leon Bignell congratulated Beston on its thinking.

“We want to see increased markets for SA milk so dairy farmers aren’t beholden to two large dairy processors,” he said.

Beston purchased the dairy factories at Murray Bridge and Jervois last July after the collapse of United Dairy Power.

Article sourced from: http://www.murrayvalleystandard.com.au/story/3993559/beston-cheese-goes-up-market/

 

Broadcast: 13/05/2012 3:09:18 PM | Reporter: Kerry Staight

PIP COURTNEY, PRESENTER: For years the humble spud has been viewed as a simple, even boring, side dish. But that may soon change, with many in the industry attempting to give mash a makeover. A host of new varieties is hitting the supermarket shelves and the quest to find a more alluring spud is not only extremely competitive, but costly as well.

KERRY STAIGHT, REPORTER: This may not look like a growers’ paradise, but these sandy soils in South Australia’s Murray Mallee have helped turn the state into the leading producer of fresh potatoes and a home to some of the kings of spuds.

FRANK MITOLO, THE MITOLO GROUP: Potatoes have been very good to us. We’ve grown a significant business because of potatoes. They are a – I guess a labour of love. I mean, they’re quite temperamental and can sort of wear you out a bit sometimes, but there’s something about them that keeps bringing you back.

KERRY STAIGHT: After starting out in the industry as packers, the Mitolos now have their hands in every part of the potato process, from seeding right through to selling. It’s an integrated approach adopted by many of the top tuba producers.

FRANK MITOLO: Very competitive. Because it’s – I guess there’s maybe half a dozen major packers in South Australia that – all battling for the same sort of marketplace, so it is quite a different sort of playing field than other crops ’cause you’ve got, you know, such big players in the game.

KERRY STAIGHT: Just down the road from the Mitolos’ Pinnaroo farm at Pirella is friend and competitor Mark Pye. He comes from good spud stock. His father and brothers are big potato producers in New Zealand. And when Mark made the move across the Tasman at the age of 21, he was confident of success.

MARK PYE, ZERELLA FRESH: The land was relatively cheap, sandy, very suitable for washed potatoes. A good underground aquifer with good quality water and there was licences to be had out here at good prices.

KERRY STAIGHT: The ingredients might’ve been right, but things got off to a rocky start.

MARK PYE: The accountant, after year one, sort of mentioned that we should pack up and come home ’cause our first year we didn’t make any money. It was a bit of a disaster. But I knew that it would work. I could see how we could make it work, so we persisted, and yeah, it’s paid off.

KERRY STAIGHT: 20 years on and his company now produces six times as many spuds. He’s also one of the country’s biggest growers of carrots and onions.

MARK PYE: We’ve got a philosophy, it’s like, “Think big and keep it simple,” so, it’s like – “yeah, we can move volume and not just a box here and a box there.”

KERRY STAIGHT: But being in the potato business isn’t so simple anymore, nor is it all about volume. It’s about varieties too. After growing the same types of ‘taters for years, growers are now trying to outdo each other with their own signature spuds.

Mark Pye is putting a fair portion of his money into this variety, Maranca, which he’s imported from the Netherlands.

MARK PYE: There’s other varieties I’ve brought in and trialled and they haven’t worked for various reasons, whether they didn’t yield or didn’t wash, they weren’t bright, didn’t travel, didn’t eat well. You won’t get one variety that’ll do everything, so you – Maranca’s as close as we’ve found.

KERRY STAIGHT: The first significant exclusive potato to hit the Australian market was Nadine and it was agricultural giant Elders that bought the rights to the Scottish spud.

RENE DE JONG, ELDERS: The variety had good quality characteristics. It had a good skin finish, it was white, it was probably what the industry needed at the time.

FRANK MITOLO: Plant breeders’ rights in potatoes didn’t exist 20 years ago. The first taste of it was about eight or 10 years ago with Nadine, which has changed the industry quite considerably and now PBR varieties are commonplace and really necessary for businesses to survive.

KERRY STAIGHT: Frank Mitolo’s company is sublicensed to grow Nadine and it remains their major variety.

But the other private potato he’s promoting is this one, which has been sourced directly from breeders in the Netherlands. Branded Charisma, it’s a yellow-fleshed variety with a lower-than-average glycemic index, so Mr Mitolo says it’s suitable for diabetics.

FRANK MITOLO: We were trialling this variety for several years because we liked its agronomic qualities. It handled the slightly saline water up here in Pinnaroo, it was an attractive looking potato, tasted good. But it was only by chance several years in we found out it was low GI, and, you know, it’s a key point of difference. I mean, it’s huge.

KERRY STAIGHT: At the Adelaide wholesale produce market, another potato with a clear point of difference is gaining ground. This is Kestrel, another Scottish variety Elders bought the rights to and sublicensed to a couple of growers, including Mark Pye.

How much has the demand for Kestrel changed?

RENE DE JONG: It’s probably doubled in about the last three years and we’re hoping it’ll double again in the next three years to come.

KERRY STAIGHT: But for every Kestrel, Maranca, Nadine and Charisma, there are many more which never make it to market.

FRANK MITOLO: Something like Charisma, we invested several million dollars in that, getting it off the ground very quickly and incorporating the marketing. With one winner there’s probably seven losers so it’s expensive sort of process to invest and find the – it’s like racehorses, I guess.

KERRY STAIGHT: While some of the varieties available to all growers are still popular, they are steadily being replaced by these exclusive lines.

JONATHAN ECCLES, POTATOES SA: It depends on some of the independent retailers versus the supermarkets, but we’d probably, I’d say, about 50/50 we’d be private varieties versus publicly available varieties.

KERRY STAIGHT: While many major producers are sourcing their spuds from the other side of the world, they’re also keeping a close eye on what’s going on in their own backyard. I’m in the Yarra Ranges north of Melbourne, where these local potato breeders are trying to come up with a home-grown variety that ticks the right boxes.

It’s D-Day for these spud specialists. They’re digging up the first of 5,000 varieties they’re trialling in the hope of finding 30 or so that may meet industry needs.

TONY SLATER, POTATO BREEDING PROGRAM: When we uncovered them for the first time it’s nervous, you don’t know what they’re going to look like, but then when they meet, what you’re actually aiming at, it’s really exciting.

KERRY STAIGHT: Tony Slater has been assessing spuds for a decade as the leader of Australia’s only potato breeding program. The program is responsible for 10 public varieties, including Ruby Lou and Coliban. But even though it’s partly funded by industry, some of the big commercial players say it’s a lightweight on an international level.

FRANK MITOLO: I think it’s either there’s more money spent on it or we forget about it because it’s one of those areas that unless you’ve got a bit of scale about you there’s no real point to it. … The breeding houses in Europe are huge. The scale is, you know, probably a thousand-to-one to what you can do in Australia, so there’s just that much more to work with.

TONY SLATER: We’re a small program in comparison, but we still can be effective simply because we’re breeding for Australian conditions.

KERRY STAIGHT: Is Australia a good climate for potato growing or not?

TONY SLATER: No, it’s not. It’s – the ideal climate is around 22 to 24 degrees average temperature and a lot of our production is under 30-plus degree temperatures.

KERRY STAIGHT: Many of the European breeding houses do also trial their potatoes in hotter countries. But supporters of this program say local research is needed to look after local needs.

JONATHAN ECCLES: There will be some characteristics that we need to have for the Australian marketplace. For example, we may wish to try and grow potatoes in a more arid environment or a wetter environment and it’s very unlikely some of these key genetics would be produced from overseas.

KERRY STAIGHT: And when it comes to genetics, Tony Slater says Australia has the smarts to outperform larger scale operators. His team is using molecular science to unlock the secrets of potato varieties by looking at the DNA in their leaves.

TONY SLATER: To be able to take a leaf sample from material that’s only very on in its development for all those traits will really accelerate the breeding process. It will take development time down from around 12 years to around five years.

KERRY STAIGHT: While researchers are embracing the high-tech approach, the basics are still an important part of their work. All potatoes with any promise are put through their paces in the kitchen, with peeling, boiling and frying just part of the rigorous testing.

TONY SLATER: We expose them to light to see how responsive they are and how quickly they green because we don’t want to be poisoning the public. We actually hit them and see how they bruise, because they’re mechanically harvested so we don’t want them to have cracks or bruises for the consumers. We cut them in half to see if there’s any deformities because when you’re at home you don’t want to be cutting them open and they’ve got a hollow in the middle or they’re black in the middle.

KERRY STAIGHT: Then there’s the colour. While it might’ve been white all the way in the past, momentum is gaining for a slightly darker hue.

TONY SLATER: A number of these cultivars have yellow skin and yellow flesh, more similar to European cultivars, but I don’t mind that because they’ve got good flavour.

KERRY STAIGHT: And they haven’t stopped there.

TONY SLATER: We do have a couple of coloured-flesh cultivars that have been released or are planning to be released commercially over the next 12 months or so. Very colourful, in fact. One has red flesh and the other one has purple flesh. They may look strange, but they taste wonderful.

KERRY STAIGHT: Frank Mitolo is also experimenting with a patch purple, but doesn’t expect bright coloured mash to become mainstream.

FRANK MITOLO: I think there is a place for some variety, but I don’t think people want to see 10 different colours.

KERRY STAIGHT: Why purple?

FRANK MITOLO: It’s an original colour. There’s nothing strange about it, from the old Peruvian days, but it’s also quite healthy ’cause they’re high in anthocyanins; it’s up there with blueberries. … Those varieties are really not money-making propositions, more to create some interest.

KERRY STAIGHT: And creating interest is one of the big challenges for the industry.

FRANK MITOLO: If you compare us to other industries like citrus or avocados or bananas, we’re way behind. We don’t really band together and invest in marketing our products.

KERRY STAIGHT: That’s where the former boss of the Australian Banana Growers Council, Jonathan Eccles, comes in. He’s been appointed as the head of a new potato lobby group in South Australia. And he’s got his work cut out, with an oversupplied market sending prices crashing this season and some worrying longer-term trends.

JONATHAN ECCLES: Fresh potatoes have actually been losing market share and that’s really been an expense of two reasons to rice and pasta, but also to the processing industry. So the overall consumption of potatoes has remained fairly static, but the fresh market has decreased.

KERRY STAIGHT: While new and improved varieties may be hitting the shelves, the hurdle to convince consumers the humble spud has gone up in the world remains.

JONATHAN ECCLES: One of the challenges to de-commoditise, if you like, the potato, and reinvent it as an exciting product for the consumer, because it is an all-round versatile food and it’s great for all ages, and I think we need to debunk some of the myths that it takes long to prepare and it’s unhealthy because that’s not the case.

KERRY STAIGHT: As for the family that has built their business on the simple side dishes, well, it reckons the industry now has the tools to take Australia’s favourite vegetable to the next level.

PIP COURTNEY: Kerry Staight reporting.

Sourced from:

http://www.abc.net.au/landline/content/2012/s3501664.htm

June 17, 2015 11:39am | NIGEL AUSTIN |The Advertiser

THE failed United Dairy Power milk processing business at Murray Bridge and Jervois will be rescued by the Adelaide-based Beston Global Food Company.

The company headed by Adelaide businessman Roger Sexton expects to reopen the plants in September, initially employing 12 people.

Dr Sexton said the aim is to return the business to manufacturing 100 million litres of milk as soon as possible and to more than 200 million litres in future.

“A lot of the dairy farmers have signed contracts with other dairy manufacturers and until they come our of contracts from three months onwards, we can’t bring the milk supply back in,” he said.

The business rebranded as Beston Global Food Company will produce cheddar, milk powder and mozzarella cheese from new equipment.

UDP’s former mozzarella brand and processing equipment was sold to Murray Goulburn in May.

Its markets are expected to be primarily in Asia where Beston has representatives in Thailand Vietnam, Brunei and China.

Dr Sexton said Bexton will invest significant capital in the plants in the next three years as it rebuilds the business which fell to only 30 per cent of its capacity under its previous owners, the Chinese company, 5 Star SA Pty Ltd, before it was placed into administration.

United Dairy Power employed about 130 staff and contractors in Murray Bridge and Jervois before being placed in the hands of receivers PPB Advisory in late April.

At the time, it was estimated that the region would lose about $170 million in net wealth as a result of the closures.

The facilities at UDP have been involved in the production of cheese and other milk products for more than 40 years.

PPB Advisory partner Rod Slattery said the sales process attracted significant local and international interest.

“The sale of UDP’s Murray Bridge and Jervois facilities is a positive outcome for the South Australian dairy industry and community, ensuring the ongoing operation of the plants into the future,” Mr Slattery said.

“It is pleasing that the buyer, Beston Global Food Company, has signalled plans to invest significant capital to upgrade the facilities and increase the capacity of the existing operations to tap into growing demand for dairy products in the Asian market.

Mr Slattery said that all UDP staff entitlements will be paid out in full on or before June 30.

Sourced from:

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/beston-global-steps-in-to-rescue-united-dairy/news-story/146cec3b2b5a7424da3e8e982cc214fd