It’s official: Costa Group develops and grows world’s heaviest blueberry

View all articles

Costa Group, a global leader in the development of premium blueberry varieties, has hit the record books for developing and growing the world’s heaviest blueberry, according to the official Guinness World Records.

The blueberry was from the Eterna variety, as part of Costa’s globally recognised Variety Improvement Program (VIP), which licenses Costa bred blueberry varieties in regions including the Americas, Morocco, China, and south east Africa.

The blueberry was picked on November 13, 2023, at Costa’s berry farm in Corindi, New South Wales, Australia.  Weighing in at a whopping 20.40g (0.71oz) and measuring 39.31 millimetres, it was grown by Brad Hocking, Jessica Scalzo and Marie-France Courtois.  The previous world record was for a 16.20g berry grown in Western Australia in 2020.

Costa’s VIP program is headquartered at Corindi and has been operating for more than 25 years, developing on average one to two new varieties of blueberries of global commercial value each year.

It utilises Costa’s extensive network of farms in mid latitude, low latitude, and low chill to mid-chill locations to select, evaluate and develop new varieties suitable for a range of global growing conditions, meeting both customer and consumer requirements for premium blueberry varieties.

George Jessett, Costa Berries International Horticulture Manager, said there was a huge amount of confidence and excitement around the new varieties.

“We are always looking to develop new varieties that improve on the current benchmark and meet evolving customer requirements.  We are also looking to breed varieties that are more adaptable to hotter climates, are more drought tolerant and with better resistance against pest and disease pressure,” George said.

Senior Horticulturalist Brad Hocking said the Eterna variety was known for its large fruit size, crisp texture and long shelf life.

“Eterna as a variety has a really great flavour and consistently large fruit.  When we picked this one, there were probably around 20 other berries of a similar size,” Brad said.

While the team is excited to be recognised with the world record, quality and flavour remain the top priority in selecting and developing new varieties through Costa Group’s VIP program.

“This really is a delightful piece of fruit. While the fruit is large, there’s absolutely no compromise on quality or flavour as would be expected when developing a premium variety blueberry,” Brad said.

World's heaviest blueberry on scale

Costa Tomato Exchange awards community grants

View all articles

Seven organisations including community and sporting groups and a school will receive funding through the Costa Tomato Exchange Well Grown Community Grants Program for 2024.

State Manager NSW Brett Ryan said there were 40 applications for funding through the program, which this year provided grants across the five categories of: sporting event/activity; community event; community project; school project/initiative; and environmental initiative/activity.

“We were really pleased to see so many applications and it again made the selection process very difficult.  We used an independent reviewer to assess the applications to ensure they were each judged fairly according to our criteria,” Mr Ryan said.

The recipients for 2024 are:

School project/initiative:  Kelly’s Plains Public School

Environmental initiative/activity: Guyra Neighbourhood Centre

Community Project: Young Life Armidale

Community Event:  Guyra Trout Festival

Sporting event/activity: Guyra Shamrock Hockey, Armidale Blues Netball, Duval Dam Buster Trail Run.

“We look forward to seeing the outcomes from these organisations and thank everyone who took the time to complete an application.”

Costa Group appoints new CEO

View all articles

Costa Group, Australia’s leading fresh produce company is very pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Marc Werner as its new CEO, effective 1 March 2024. Marc commenced with Costa in August 2022 in the role of Chief Operating Officer and was appointed Deputy CEO in July 2023.

Interim Costa CEO, Harry Debney who will be finishing in his role as of 29 February 2024, noted that during Marc’s time with Costa, he has earned the respect of all he has worked with and has established himself as someone recognised for his integrity, work ethic and strong leadership abilities.

“The company looks forward to Marc’s leadership in further growing the business and achieving continued success, I wish him the very best for the future,” said Mr Debney.

Quotes attributable to Marc Werner

“Given the long and successful history of the Costa business, I am honoured to have been appointed to such an important role, and it is a great privilege to follow in the footsteps of all those who have gone before me, including Harry, and Frank Costa.

“Over the past 18 months I have really focused on developing a detailed understanding of the fresh produce industry, to ensure I can effectively lead the business and optimise its success. A key to this will be continued investment in innovation, to both build our competitive advantage and enhance our product offering.

“I look forward to working closely with our key customers, suppliers and other stakeholders to ensure we can further build on these already productive relationships.

“Costa’s people are our greatest asset, and I intend to not only identify and promote their capabilities and key talents, but to continue to position Costa as the employer of choice in the fresh produce industry.

“I also want to acknowledge the efforts of Harry Debney and thank him for his support and mentoring. On behalf of Costa, I wish Harry and his wife Jane all the very best for whatever the future holds for them.”

For further information contact: Michael Toby – Corporate Affairs Manager T: +613 8363 9071

Costa Group enters new ownership phase as experienced Consortium takes control

View all articles

Costa Group has achieved another important milestone in its more than 120-year history with the company’s ownership officially changing hands today (February 26), after being delisted from the ASX earlier this month.

Costa’s shareholders voted in favour of accepting an offer of AUD3.20 per share from an experienced North American based consortium made up of Paine Schwartz Partners, Driscoll’s Inc. and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation.

Started by the Costa family, in Geelong Victoria, Australia in the late 1800s, the business over many decades grew into a leading global horticultural company, recognised as having a unique and valuable portfolio of premium quality fresh produce, including the growing, marketing and supply of blueberries, glasshouse tomatoes, citrus, avocados, mushrooms and table grapes.

As of February 2024, Costa has a production and grower network spanning every state of Australia, China, Morocco, and southern Africa. Costa products are sold into numerous countries around the world, including throughout Europe, UK, Asia, and North America.

Costa is also recognised as being an industry leader in the development of genetics and new plant varieties, especially blueberries. In 2023 alone, Costa launched a record four new blueberry varieties with a strong forward pipeline of products to fuel the company’s growth trajectory.

Paine Schwartz Partners has a long and established track record of investing in the agricultural and food supply chain, which includes a prior equity stake in Costa. Over the past few decades, the firm has invested $5.7 billion in food and agribusiness. This includes not only companies that grow premium fresh produce, such as Monterey Mushrooms, but also ag tech companies, including AgroFresh.

Driscoll’s are well known to Costa, having successfully operated joint ventures together in Australia and China. Driscoll’s are a world leader in the breeding and marketing of berries. They will bring considerable knowledge and resources to the business, and the capability to potentially further the expansion of Costa’s footprint.

British Columbia Investment Management Corporation is a major global institutional investor, with C$233.0 billion in gross assets under management as of March 31, 2023. Their investment in agricultural assets includes an ownership stake in Viterra and mushroom and citrus businesses.

Costa and Driscoll’s will be working on specific projects to grow the global berry business, in addition to their existing arrangements in China, Australia and the Americas which will continue unaffected.

“The Costa team is looking forward to the future and working with its new owners, who given their extensive background of investing in and operating high quality agricultural assets, are committed to further building the business’s capacity and ensuring its ongoing success,” said Costa Group’s Interim CEO, Mr Harry Debney.

For further information contact: Michael Toby – Corporate Affairs Manager T: +613 8363 9071

Recycled paper bag trialled for mandarins

View all articles

Following on from the success of new paper packaging for Costa’s premium table grapes, a new fully recyclable paper bag was trialled for this season’s premium mandarins.

Gilad Sadan, creative directive of NAVI Co Global, is partnering with Costa in the development of a range of sustainable packaging solutions and was instrumental in the design of the bunch bag for the Autumcrisp grapes.

He has also previously worked with the grapes team on the development of a fully recyclable at kerbside grape punnet.

Gilad said the latest trial for mandarins was an evolution of the grape packaging and was the result of an idea from Craig Greenhalgh, National Sales and Operations Manager for Costa’s Citrus Category.

“There’s really interesting cross pollination between the categories and we are using the learnings and applying them to different produce lines,” Craig said.

“For the mandarins we had to find ways to seal the bag, which needed to be a set weight. From a consumer point of view there’s convenience of having the mandarins in a bag, but with no environmental impact.

“Keeping very close to global and local consumer trends we use new product launches to tune into what consumers are looking for and what’s important to them. We received written feedback from consumers congratulating us on our packaging sustainability journey.”

While still in trial stages, Gilad said the new packaging had also opened up new conversations with retailers, and there was potential for use with other produce such as avocados.

Costa supports UTAS scholarships

View all articles

Costa has been a long-term supporter of scholarships at the University of Tasmania and has recently signed up to fund undergraduate and Honours scholarships for another four years. These scholarships provide valuable support helping regional students pursue a university qualification, with a particular focus on agriculture.

The Costa Scholarship in Agricultural Science is available to a student from the North of Tasmania commencing a full-time undergraduate degree in Agriculture in 2024, and provides $5000 a year for up to three years. The Costa Honours Scholarship in Agricultural Science is valued at $10,000 for one year. Applications are now open through University of Tasmania.

Emma Nightingale was the first recipient of the Costa’s Honours scholarship back in 2016 and went on to join Costa, becoming a key member of the horticulture team in Tasmania. You can hear her story in the video below.

New technology removes need for fruit stickers

View all articles

Costa is trialling innovative laser etching technology on hard-skinned fruit to remove the need for fruit stickers as part of its focus on developing sustainable packaging alternatives for its fresh produce.

PLU (price look-up) fruit stickers are used on individual pieces of fruit to convey price and in some cases contain QR codes to provide further provenance information, however they are generally not recyclable.

Gilad Sadan, creative directive of NAVI Co Global, is partnering with Costa in the development of a range of sustainable packaging solutions and is working with Result Group’s Eco Mark on the laser technology.

“This innovative new technology gives us the ability to laser etch the avocado without impacting the produce at all. It removes the need for the PLU sticker, which are mostly not recyclable. There are some compostable stickers, but they are very expensive,” Gilad said.

At the recent Asia Fruit Logistic expo in Hong Kong, Costa’s avocados were on display with the Australian made logo etched on the skin.

The EcoMark Natural Branding removes or causes a pigment change in only the outmost layer of the fruit or vegetable peel. The laser beam remains so close to the surface that fruit and vegetables are completely intact beneath their skin or peel and shelf life is not impacted.

“We are still in the trial stages, but we think that has the potential to be a genuine replacement for PLU stickers which will be a win for the environment and our consumers.”

New office location for Costa Group

View all articles

Costa Group Holdings Pty Ltd is moving to a new office location in Melbourne.

Effective 21 August 2023, Costa Group Holdings Pty Ltd and each of its Australian subsidiaries will change its registered address to:

 Level 5 / 818 Bourke Street

Docklands, Victoria 3008

 Locked Bag 38004

Docklands, Victoria 8012

 

 

 

Applications open for 2024 Costa Graduate Program

View all articles

Costa’s 2024 Graduate Program is now open for applications.

Our Graduate Program aims to train and develop growers of the future by providing an intensive hands-on and educational experience across a multitude of key departments within the Costa Group over a 12 or 18-month period.

Rotations within and/or across different regions and business categories will include time in our nurseries, glasshouses, packing sheds, farms and agronomy teams.

Graduates will gain an insight into what happens after the product leaves the farm through exposure to the sales and marketing functions based in our Melbourne head office, as well as access to senior leaders.

Kimberley Tong, who participated in the 2022-2023 Costa Graduate Program, said the 18-month program had given her a clearer idea of what she wanted to.

“I never really thought I would end up in the agribusiness industry but after completing this graduate program, I can say with certainty that there is no better field nor company to start one’s journey,” Kimberley said.

“Coming out of university, I didn’t really know what pathway to take, so being offered the opportunity to travel the country while learning and broadening my knowledge in different areas of the horticulture sector was irresistible.

“These 18 months have helped me develop a clearer idea of what I want to do and how I want to contribute to the industry, but ultimately, it’s the support from everyone I’ve met and their eagerness to share their wealth of expertise that has been truly rewarding.”

The Program is open to anyone who is in the final year or finished a Bachelor or postgraduate degree in agriculture, science, agribusiness, horticulture or business.

Applications are open from August 1 to September 1.  Find out more.


Apply now

Growing opportunities at Costa Berries

View all articles

Tammy Degroot has done pretty much every job at the 9 Mile Berry farm in Tasmania, putting her in prime position to take on the role of Blueberry Farm Manager.

The first female to manage a farm within Costa’s Australian Berry Category, Tammy said she was excited about the opportunity.

Tammy, who lives in Penguin with her family, started with Costa in 2010 when the third stage of the 9 Mile blueberry farm was being planted.  She had previously been working a number of jobs including in hospitality, running the canteen at her sons’ school, and at a chicken farm.

“Our own farm overlooked the blueberry farm and I had watched the farm expanding so I thought I’d give it a go.”

After two years Tammy moved into a supervisor role and for the last four years she has been managing the harvest operations.

“There isn’t anything on this farm I haven’t done.  I like all aspects of the blueberry farm and just really enjoy coming to work.

“For a number of years I have been working towards this role.  When Rob Saggus moved here to Tasmania from the Corindi Berry farm he saw the potential in me and has been guiding me,” she said.

Cameron Folder, Tasmanian Regional Manager, congratulated Tammy on her promotion.

“Tammy’s experience equips her well for this new challenge and I am especially pleased that Tammy has been able to progress through the business to take this position,” he said.

Rob Saggus, who was the previous farm manager, has moved into the role of Raspberry Farm Manager.

Rob has also been a long-standing employee having worked for Costa for 25 years, working his way from fruit picker to irrigator to operations manager in Corindi before moving to Tasmania to lead the blueberry team for the past five years.

Leonard follows dream to build a school

View all articles

Leaving your wife and five children to work in Australia is not easy, but for Leonard Ale it’s worth the sacrifice to help realise his dream.

Leonard is one of the many thousands of people who come to work in Australia from the Pacific Islands, through the Federal Government’s Pacific Australia Labour Mobility program. He has just arrived in Australia for his second placement with Costa Berries in Corindi.

Leonard’s goal is to make sure children in his Solomons Islands community have access to education and one day have the chance to become the country’s future doctors, teachers and members of parliament.

Leonard has been instrumental in building the Mount Beata Community Primary School, situated outside of the Solomon Islands’ capital Honiara.

With money earned during his first stint in Australia he was able to donate $2000 (the equivalent of more than $10,000 Solomon Island dollars) to the ongoing development of the school.

It is supported by the Seventh Day Adventist Church, which provides teachers. The school, which has classes for prep through to Year 6, now has 154 students.  Mojo Surf, which provides accommodation for seasonal workers in Arrawarra, also made a donation to the school last year.

“There are not many primary schools in the Solomon Islands and people can’t afford to pay.  The main reason I came here to Australia was to help the school. It’s not just for my wife and children, it’s for the nation as well,” he said.

“My dream is to one day build another classroom and staff facilities,” Leonard said.

Leonard first came to Australia in October 2021, working at the Corindi Berry farm in maintenance and the packing shed.

While he’s in Australia, Leonard’s wife looks after the family piggery and cares for the children.  Despite having to leave his family, Leonard said he was grateful for the opportunity to work in Australia.

“I really appreciate the Australian Government and the Australia people because in my country there is no opportunity for jobs.”

Leonard said while there were a lot of university qualified people in the Solomon Islands, many could not find employment.

Through the PALM scheme, approved employers can recruit workers for seasonal jobs for up to nine months or for longer-term roles for between one and 4 years in unskilled, low-skilled and semi-skilled positions.

The PALM scheme is designed to help fill labour shortages in rural and regional Australia. It allows Pacific and Timor-Leste workers to take up jobs in Australia, develop their skills and send income home. Under the Scheme there are a range of requirements and regulations relating to accommodation and transport.

“I am here to work and Australia is such a beautiful and peaceful country. The people here are very friendly and welcoming.”

Mount Beata Community  Primary School
The Mount Beata Community Primary School in the Solomon Islands.

Growing careers at Costa Tomatoes

View all articles

Three new apprentices have joined the Costa Tomato operations in Guyra.

Neil Ashman, Andrew Pearson and Marty Ryan, who all come from the Guyra region, have started boilermaking apprenticeships, giving them a broad range of skills required in the maintenance of the glasshouse operation.

“Costa is very proud to support Neil, Andrew and Marty in the development of their careers and their skills are very important to the smooth operations of our Tomato glasshouse business,” Scot MacDonald, Costa State Manager, said.

“We hope this is the start of a long and successful career with the company. Facilitating training and jobs in Guyra for the upcoming generation is a win for these men, the Guyra community and the future of agriculture.”

Neil, Andrew and Marty, will be attending TAFE in Armidale as part of their Certificate III in Engineering and Metal Fabrication.

Marty Ryan, who went to school at Ben Lomond and Guyra schools before boarding at Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School in Tamworth, started working full-time with Costa towards the end of last year.

“I had wanted to get into the workforce but there weren’t a whole lot of opportunities in the region. Then I was offered an opportunity to do work experience with Costa.  I did two days’ work experience and that sold me.  Ever since I was about four years old I have wanted to build things and work with my hands,” Marty said.

“Joey Mills and Michael Fowler are an absolute pleasure to work for.  It’s pretty amazing to have this opportunity to work with a leading producer in the food industry. We are getting lots of opportunities working in this field as it is a very diverse company.”

Costa Maintenance Manager Joey Mills said he was honoured to have the new apprentices join his team.

Photo courtesy of Guyra Gazette: from left Brett Ryan, HR Manager, Andrew Pearson, Marty Ryan, Joey Mills, Maintenance Manager, Neil Ashman and Scot MacDonald, State Manager.