One of only two remaining pineapple farmers in the Gympie region to still have a Golden Circle canning contract, veteran grower Ken Buchanan sees the future as sweet.
Food manufacturer Heinz formally took ownership of Golden Circle on December 19, 2008 and for Mr Buchanan it's business as usual at the family's 4000 tonne a year Sandowne Pineapple Company.
He says while it's early days, once the integration is complete he is cautiously optimistic about the continued viability of pineapple growing in the area.
“We hope it will be good - it will take 12 months to sort out where Golden Circle fits in to their organisation.”
The gradual decline of growers in an area that prided itself on producing a solid percentage of the state's pineapples is not without its problems in an industry that is simply not as profitable as it once was.
“There's still some other growers (in the region) but they won't be replanting,” he said. “It's causing some difficulties with transport - there's less pineapples going out and that impacts on the economies of scale and people aren't eating as many pineapples,” he said.
Imported pines, he says, are an influencing factor, but not a major one. Like most Queensland pineapple growers, he is welcoming the new national pineapple industry levy that will come in on July 1.
The levy was proposed by the Australian pineapple industry body Growcom and was met with overwhelming endorsement from growers. Pineapple Growers Advancement Group chairman Chris Fullerton said in the first year the research and development levy would be used to address a range of urgent research needs including chemical registration and research into more modern and effective pest and disease control methods.
Mr Buchanan agrees with the levy's focus: “Nothing happens if you don't have the money,” he said.
Growing premium pineapples for some 40 years means Mr Buchanan has seen many changes in the industry and has always embraced innovation in streamlining production. Sandowne is the only farm in the region growing the Golden Circle Gold hybrid - its less acid, sweeter taste becoming favoured on the fresh fruit market.
“The price is about two-thirds more than smooths so it's quite attractive to grow them,” he said.
Source: gympietimes.com.au
Publication date: 5/27/2009
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