Costa Group looks to Asia

Costa Group is looking to double its export earnings over the coming decade as its production rates supersede the demands of the domestic market.

The Group’s chairman Frank Costa told The Weekend Australian that this company is now increasingly turning to Asia, where they have been a long-term small supplier.

“We have now reached a size with our farms that we can't expand them much more without oversupplying the markets,' he said. “We have been supplying Asia in a small way for a long time. But now we are getting really serious about it. I would like to see us double our export business over the next 10 years. I think we could.'

Costa, which currently turns over A$1bn annually, would remain the biggest supplier to Australia’s two leading retailers, Coles and Woolworths, he added.

The company’s farms produce berries, mushrooms, tomatoes, bananas, citrus, grapes and avocados.

The Group is set to grow its partnership with world-leading US berry producer Driscoll’s, which has allowed the Costa Group subsidiary Costa Exchange to keep Australian retail shelves stocked with blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries all year.

“Berries have now become No 1 turnover 52 weeks of the year in the US, ahead of bananas,” Costa told The Weekend Australian. “So we are developing the four berry categories (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and blackberries) in Australia. To make sure we get 52 weeks of the year, we are trialling them up on the Atherton Tablelands (in Queensland) right now and we are growing them in Tasmania, where we have a big expansion program.'

After battling poor weather for the last two years, Costa was positive about this year’s conditions in Australia that he says have been stable since February, ensuring solid yields.

He added that he foresees the company’s partnership with Driscoll’s moving into Asia to grow blueberries, where demand for the product has surged in recent years.

'I can see us doing something in Asia with Driscolls, growing blueberries,” he said. “I can see that coming pretty quickly, actually.”