Costa Group's annual report highlights plans for berry operations in China and Morocco. This investment in the international arena is paying off for the Australian giant.
The Australian fresh produce heavyweight has five berry farms in China's Yunnan province under a joint venture with Driscoll's, supplying the total Chinese domestic market. It also has a joint venture in Morocco with UK-based Total Berry called Africa Blue, which exports produce to Europe, the UK and Asia.
In presenting results for the full year 2022 (12 months to January 1, 2023), Costa highlighted an increase in berry production volumes from China. This was related to an increase in demand for fruit in the Chinese market, resulting in strong revenue growth from the previous year.
President Neil Chatfield and interim CEO Harry Debney again referred to this performance in their overview of Costa's 2022 budget, released April 21.
"The contribution of our international segment continues to grow year after year, with an outstanding performance in China leading to solid earnings growth, with a 34 percent increase in revenues over the previous year," Chatfield and Debney said.
"This figure reflects the increase in volume, quality, demand, and price increases, even taking into account the Covid-related closures in major cities toward the end of the Chinese season."
The 2022 harvest in Morocco proved to be more challenging. Harvest times were delayed due to weather conditions, which had an impact on revenues.
Costa is aiming for more growth in the international segment, investing in new plantations in both Morocco and China. It is also replacing older varieties with those offered by its Varietal Improvement Program (VIP).
"The replanting program on our farms in northern Morocco is proceeding according to plan, with the gradual replacement of the Mayra variety with other specially bred and genetically superior varieties of blueberry VIP," the document says.
Proprietary varieties, along with investments in protected crops, are also giving Costa an edge in Australia's berry sector.
"Costa is clearly the industry leader in Australia in the use of protected crops and the development of proprietary and licensed genetics," Chatfield and Debney said.
"We have done this to our competitive advantage, and in 2022, evidence of this was particularly evident in the performance of our domestic berry category.
"While other growers in the main growing region on the northern coast of New South Wales were severely affected by the rains and suffered reduced quality and volume as a result, the benefits of our extensive protected crop infrastructure and the premium varieties we grow came to the fore allowing us to maintain market supply in the peak season."
Source:Fruitnet
Fruitnet is part of the NCX Media network.
