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With COVID disrupting their long-term careers, Craig and Fiona Dennes decided to answer the call for more fruit pickers – turning work into an opportunity to explore Australia.

Last year the couple, originally from Taree, found themselves without employment after long careers in the telecommunications and retail industries.

“Our lives were flowing along as usual with everyday 9-5 jobs,” Fiona said.

“Craig worked at Telstra for more than 36 years as a technical expert, and I was with fashion retail outlet Sussan as second in-charge and occasional store manager for 14 years.

“From March 2020, things changed rapidly for us. Craig was retrenched from his position at Telstra. At the end of July, and as a direct result of COVID, I was offered less hours or retrenchment from my position at Sussan. So, on the 1st of September 2020, I accepted retrenchment. It was then we both came to the realisation neither of us had a job!”

Fiona said after seeing a news story about the shortage of fruit pickers, they decided it would be a great opportunity to get out and travel and be paid.

“Having never participated in this type of work and to test the waters, we enquired with local avocado farmers around our area but with no luck. We then applied online with Costa Berries as there was need for pickers in the Coffs Harbour area, at Corindi.

“Within a couple of weeks, we’d bought our very first caravan and by October long weekend 2020 we left our home in Taree. We left our younger son in charge of the house and we hit the road and headed for the Costa farm at Corindi.”

After working for two months in Corindi, including as pickers, driving trucks and as assistant supervisors, the couple moved to the Costa Berry farm at Tumbarumba arriving in mid December 2020.

Craig’s previous work involved travelling across the country, training and supporting Telstra’s internal construction workforce across all regions.

Fiona said in her previous role, she managed inventories, staff and customers.

“Here at Costa, I manage a small crew, inventories and diverse picking crews from various nationalities. The roles have similarities, although my dress for work uniform differs significantly. I now have a pair of steel cap boots and dress for farm work, not retail fashion.

“At Tumbarumba, I supervised my own crew, while Craig again drove the trucks. We both gained a lot of invaluable experience at Tumbarumba, formed new friendships with amazing people and visited beautiful locations across the Snowy Mountains region.”

After finishing the Tumbarumba season, the couple headed home to Taree for an eight-week break before heading to Far North Queensland for the Costa berry harvest on the Atherton Tablelands.

“The opportunity to work and live in FNQ is one we will never regret embracing. There are so many things to see and places to visit including The Daintree, Port Douglas, Trinity Beach and numerous visits to Cairns.”

“We have met so many wonderful people on our journey. Friends, new and old are so envious of our lifestyle. The flexible work arrangements provide many opportunities to explore regions close to the harvest locations we have been too.”

Craig and Fiona have now done full circle and returned to Corindi for the 2021-22 blueberry season.

The Federal Liberal National Government has delivered an Australian Agriculture visa that will address the immediate workforce shortage facing Australia’s farmers, and support the ongoing structural change in the agriculture workforce.

The Australian Fresh Produce Alliance (AFPA) has consistently called for the introduction of a dedicated agriculture visa which will allow workers from overseas to travel to Australia and work in agriculture. The Australian Agriculture visa will complement existing initiatives to recruit Australians, and the Pacific Mobility programs.

“As some of the largest employers in the horticulture sector, AFPA members have been developing a 10-year outlook on their workforce requirements. From this work, we know that developing a productive and returning workforce is key for all horticulture employers and the new visa announced today delivers another important pathway for growers to tap into a returning workforce” said AFPA Chair, Anthony Di Pietro.

The Australian Agriculture visa will be available to all agriculture sectors, including horticulture where the largest number of roles are short term, seasonal roles supporting the harvest of fresh fruit and vegetables.

“It’s pleasing to see that the new Australian Agriculture visa seems to have taken into account that the agriculture sector has a variety of different workforce needs and is looking to accommodate all of these. In horticulture, we have a number of short term, highly seasonal roles that often see workers move to follow work. This is different to other sectors, like meat processing, which may have work in the same processing facility throughout a year,” said Mr Di Pietro.

Outlined in today’s announcement is that a key component of the Australian Agriculture visa is the need for robust employer standards to ensure the welfare of future visa holders.

“Employers will be required to meet high standards to sponsor workers on this visa, and this is critical to the success of the Australian Agriculture visa. The AFPA have consistently advocated that this visa must focus on ensuring compliance with employment standards to ensure worker welfare and will continue to support this as a key part of the visa’s design” said Mr Di Pietro.

An initial challenge in operationalising the Seasonal Agriculture Worker visa will be accessing the required additional quarantine capacity to support arrivals of critical harvest and agriculture workers into Australia.

“Queensland and Tasmania have led the way in supporting the agriculture industry with quarantine arrangements and capacity, including on-farm quarantine, to support the arrival of workers from the Pacific. Now that we have an agriculture visa and expansion of the Pacific programs, we need all states and territory governments to work with industry to develop quarantine solutions,” said Mr Di Pietro.

Media Contact: Michael Rogers – CEO, AFPA: 0409 648 911

About the AFPA – The Australian Fresh Produce Alliance (AFPA) is made up of Australia’s key fresh produce growers and suppliers, including Costa. The AFPA represents half the industry turnover of the Australian fresh produce sector – $4.5 billion of the $9.1 billion total; 1,000 plus growers through commercial arrangements and more than 15,000 direct employees through peak harvest, and up to 25,000 in the
grower network.

Designed to provide career pathways and opportunities for people passionate about the future of sustainable fresh food production, Costa’s 2022 Graduate Program is now open for applications.

Costa Group, Australia’s leading grower, packer and marketer of fresh fruit and vegetables, offers an 18-month Graduate Program which provides exposure across key areas of the Costa Group business including agronomy, logistics and sales and marketing.

Costa’s HR Manager Carl Phillips said providing opportunities for graduates was key to the future success of the industry as a whole.
“Our focus is on Sustainable Commercial Farming and a key element of that is our people. We are investing in the leaders of the future and providing clear career pathways,” Mr Phillips said.

“We also have a strong commitment to our regions and we support a number of university scholarships, particularly targeting students who live in the many regional communities in which we operate. The Graduate Program is a natural extension of this investment in education.”

The Costa Graduate Program provides intensive hands-on experience across a multitude of key departments within the Costa Group over an 18-month period. Rotations in 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.

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 13.

The horticulture sector is calling for a trial of the newly announced Seasonal Agriculture Worker visa to commence before year end.

The Australian Fresh Produce Alliance (AFPA), of which Costa is a member, has previously welcomed the announcement of a dedicated Seasonal Agriculture Worker visa, which will reduce industry’s reliance on working holiday makers and allow the industry to better develop a productive, returning harvest workforce.

“As some of the largest employers in the sector, AFPA members have been developing a 10-year outlook on their workforce requirements. A long term outlook reduces the reliance on backpackers and focuses on better pathways for employing Australians, workers from the Pacific and new Seasonal Agriculture Worker visa holders,” said AFPA CEO, Michael Rogers.

The AFPA is calling on the government to implement a trial of the Seasonal Agriculture Worker visa and focus on a group of registered employers, prospective visa holders and sending countries. A smaller scale trial will also enable industry to work with relevant agencies in managing quarantine pathways for Seasonal Agriculture Worker visa holders travelling to Australia.

“It is critical that we implement the Seasonal Agriculture Worker Visa this year to provide additional workers for the summer harvest, and to support the structural workforce changes underway in the sector. A trial will allow the Government’s commitment to be implemented quickly while also testing the parameters of the new visa program,” said Mr Rogers.

The closure of Australia’s international borders has reduced the number of working holiday makers in the country from over 140,000 at the beginning of the pandemic to approximately 37,000. During the same period, more than 9,000 Seasonal Worker Program and Pacific Labour Scheme visa holders from the Pacific have filled critical workforce shortages in horticulture, meat processing, manufacturing and accommodation sectors.

“Right now, there are more Seasonal Worker Program visa holders working in horticulture than there have ever been before. This clearly demonstrates industry’s changing direction to a more reliable, productive and returning workforce model. Moving forward, the Seasonal Agriculture Worker visa will be a key complement to workers from the Pacific and is critical in reducing the over reliance on working holiday makers.

“The Australian fresh produce industry is in the midst of a workforce restructure and adoption of new workforce planning and management. An increase in the Pacific programs as well as the new Seasonal Agriculture Worker Visa will form the backbone of the harvest workforce and lead to increases in productivity, remuneration and stability over the long term. This is good for growers and good for workers,” said Mr Rogers.

Media Contact: Michael Rogers, CEO, 0409 648 911

Costa has finalised the acquisition of Select Fresh Group (SFG), a leading Western Australian based wholesale distribution business specialising in the supply of fresh produce to food service and independent supermarkets.

SFG will sit within the Costa Farms and Logistics business unit and will expand Costa’s offering into Western Australia.

“SFG increases our supplier grower base and provides a strong platform to extend our supply relationship with national customers particularly in the catering and meal kit segments,” Damian Bourne, General Manager Costa Farms and Logistics, said.

SFG trades under two operating entities — Select Fresh and Membrillo.   Select Fresh supplies fresh produce to tender based customers with high volume requirements and Membrillo supplies high quality fresh produce to the independent retail channel for resale to the public.

Mr Bourne said Select Fresh and Membrillo operate from two modern, custom-designed, climate-controlled warehouse facilities located in the Perth Markets. Both facilities have additional capacity to accommodate the future growth of the business.

“SFG has long-standing relationships with a network of growers providing year-round sourcing strength and it also has strong relationships with independent retailers,” he said.

“The business has a loyal and dedicated workforce comprised of 55 full time, part time and casual employees and we welcome them into the Costa family.”

Costa Group Holdings Limited has entered into binding agreements (subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions) with a group of companies (Pressler entities) to acquire the business and assets of 2PH Farms Pty Ltd and its related entities (“2PH”), a Central Queensland based citrus grower for an upfront consideration of approximately $200 million in cash.

Costa will pay an additional $31 million in July 2023 for the purchase of the ‘Conaghans’ property, where a new citrus crop is currently being planted by 2PH, subject to certain conditions.

Costa has an established relationship with 2PH, having successfully marketed 2PH citrus for over 10 years in the Australian domestic market and both the domestic and export markets this calendar year.

The total upfront funding requirement is approximately $219 million (including stamp duty and transaction costs) and is to be funded with the proceeds of a fully underwritten pro rata accelerated renounceable entitlement offer (“PAITREO”) with retail rights trading to raise $190 million and existing debt facilities.

Further information is available at the Costa Investor Centre site.

A world-first study using DNA samples from hydroponics is being undertaken through a collaboration between University of New England (UNE) and Costa, as part of the Future Food Systems Co-operative Research Centre (CRC).

The CRC’s ‘Tomato rhizobiome’ project’ is designed to further the understanding of microbial colonies in the root zones of hydroponically grown greenhouse tomato crops.

A stronger rhizobiome helps plants grow better, produce more fruit and show greater resilience to pathogens. Once the project team has a better understanding about the rhizobiome of tomatoes grown in hydroponic media, they’ll use that knowledge to find ways to foster robust rhizobiomes in these plants.

All this will be of immense value to growers of hydroponic crops globally.  Hydroponics play a key role in sustainable food production, as they require less space and fewer resources than traditional agriculture.

Project lead Dr Gal Winter and industry-embedded PhD student Phil Thomas, from UNE, have set up trial plots of hydroponic tomatoes in close collaboration with the Costa Tomato glasshouses at Guyra.

“Hydroponic media are very different from the soil environment,” Dr Winter explains.

“Crops grown in soil get all the nutrients from the soil, and it is very, very rich in microorganisms. It’s challenging to study what’s in the root zone of hydroponic plants, because there isn’t a lot.

“The challenge is, how do we get a population of microorganisms [in that hydroponically grown plant’s root zone] to support the plant?”

The team has set up an experimental glasshouse at UNE to experiment with different probiotic treatments for the plants. Later, this will be used to test for different pathogens – by introducing pathogens into the root zones of our trial hydroponically grown tomatoes to see if the probiotic-treated plants handle them differently.

“Secondly, we have set up trial plants in a ‘sample slab’ at the Costa Group glasshouse facility in Guyra that emulates Costa’s standard hydroponic system at the facility; with these, obviously we don’t create any interference – we just see what is there,” Dr Winter said.

“To the best of my knowledge, this is the first-ever study that uses DNA metagenomics on hydroponic materials.”

Paul Butterworth, Technical Development Manager for the Costa glasshouses, says the initial findings are very promising.

“We believe the project is progressing nicely and the information already coming from the project is having an influence on how we look at our crops. Exciting times ahead,” he said.

Some of the promising initial results include the creation and demonstration of an effective sampling method to test the probiotics within the rootzone of hydroponic tomatoes; and the demonstration of probiotics persisting in the rootzone of hydroponic systems for a period of time – currently tested at 19 days from inoculation.

University of New England’s Dr Winter said samples of the root zones of the trial plants were taken by drilling ‘core holes’ into the slab.

“From these samples, we can ascertain the microbial community through DNA analysis. But rather than employing ‘classic microbiological methods’ – creating cultures, putting them on plates, then examining these under a microscope – we’re using a cutting-edge technique known as metagenomics. It is the most advanced technique available today,” she said.

“It basically takes the DNA and, through DNA sequencing, identifies a genome of everything that’s there – all the microbes. We use a piece of equipment known as a MinIon to do this advanced DNA sampling. The device is so small it could fit in the palm of your hand – it’s amazing.

“The overarching aim, once we understand what’s in the hydroponic plant’s rhizobiome, is to work out how best to manipulate that for better plant health.

“Ultimately, that allows us to develop tools for hydroponic growers that enable them to analyse and understand their plants’ microbiomes on the go – and then say, ‘now I need to apply this or that treatment’ to strengthen their microbiomes.

“And our study is one of the first to do this sort of analysis.”

About the Future Food Systems CRC

The Future Food Systems Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) is a national initiative funded as part of the Australian Government’s CRC Program and commenced in December 2019. Its goal is to broker industry-led collaborations between business, researchers and the community that improve the competitiveness, productivity and sustainability of Australia’s agrifood sector, especially in areas of competitive strength. CRC industry partners include large and small firms across farming, food manufacturing and technology services that share a vision for increasing Australia’s ability to value-add agrifood production and build scale in growth markets for trusted, healthy food and advanced precision-nutrition goods. For more information about the Future Food Systems CRC, its participants and its research, visit the CRC’s website www.futurefoodsystems.com.au

About Costa Group

Costa is Australia’s leading grower, packer and marketer of premium quality fresh fruit and vegetables. Across Australia, Costa has 5000 planted hectares of farmland, 30 hectares of glasshouse facilities and three mushroom growing facilities.  It also has strategic foreign interests with majority owned joint ventures covering six blueberry farms in Morocco and four berry farms in China.

Media enquiries:
Merran White, Communications Manager, Future Food Systems Cooperative Research Centre, 03 8395 6038 or 0411 728 984

Brigid Veale, Costa Group Public Relations and Communications Manager, 0427 697 164.

After making the decision to stay in Australia rather than return to their home in Chile, Cristobal Barriga and Valentina Vargas Guzman have found picking fruit is the perfect way to see the country.

The couple, who has been in Australia since February last year, started working with Costa Berries in Corindi, on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales in August last year before heading south and then north.  With Costa operating farms all around the country, it’s been an easy process to join the harvest trail.

“We started in Corindi in August last year, then we went to Tasmania and then we came up here to the Atherton Tablelands, in Far North Queensland,” Cristobal said.

“This allows you to go around Australia and save money.  Picking fruit is good for travelling, it’s more than enough money.”

Valentina said you meet a lot of people working on the farms and a lot of different cultures.

“You can talk with people and hear a lot of interesting stories while you are picking. That’s my favourite thing,” she said.

“It’s hard work, but it’s good working in nature. Usually the Costa farms are next to a beach or a forest. I like that more than the city, it’s a different kind of job.  You are part of a crew and that makes a difference, I like that.”

Cristobal said it could take a week or so to get used to the work.

“You have to get used to the work, but after a week you feel like you are doing it right. People sometimes give up because they think it’s too hard, but they don’t try enough or give it enough time. If you try for a week or maybe two weeks you get into the rhythm,” he said.

“At the beginning we were picking just for the extension for our visa, but now we are doing it because we can travel around Australia to different places and we can work at the same time. It’s a good option for us.

“The advantage of Costa is that there are farms everywhere. There are also different fruits, so you can pick whatever you want, and if you don’t like picking, there are other options like packing.”

 Media contact: Brigid Veale, Group Public Relations and Communications Manager, 0427 697 164.

At Costa we are committed to respecting human rights across our domestic and global operations.

We recognise that our people are our greatest asset and the Costa business is founded on the principles of People First, a character and values-based program that is driven by passion and performance. It influences everything we do as a business and our core values of Passion, Determination, Accountability, Sincerity and Respect guide our approach to human rights both within our business and within our supply chain.

We have published Costa’s first Modern Slavery Statement, covering Costa’s financial year ending on 27 December 2020.

The statement outlines the steps we have taken to understand, mitigate and address human rights and modern slavery risks within our operation and our supply chain. We are committed to a program of continuous improvement to ensure our processes, policies and actions remain effective in preventing and remediating modern slavery and protecting human rights.

This is underpinned by our focus on Sustainable Commercial Farming, which has three key pillars – Environment, Economic and People.

An electronic tongue is one of the tools being used as part of an Honours research project looking at the impact of storage conditions on the quality of blueberries.

Sarah McKay, who is the 2021 recipient of the Costa Honours Scholarship in Agricultural Science worth $10,000, is investigating post-harvest storage conditions and the influence this has on key quality characteristics of blueberries.

Originally from Allens Rivulet, Sarah is studying a Bachelor of Agricultural Science with Honours in Hobart through University of Tasmania.

“My project is around post-harvest storage conditions, mainly temperature, and its influence on key quality characteristics of blueberries over time. The characteristics include colour, aroma and texture, with emphasis on the influence the conditions have on taste profiles,” Sarah said.

“These characteristics are tested using an electronic tongue (e-tongue) as well as a number of other instrumental methods and a human taste panel for comparison. The e-tongue is a piece of technology that has not been used extensively on fresh fruit produce especially blueberries so this is a major focus for my project.”

Sarah said the results from the instrumental methods and the human taste panel would help map consumer purchasing habits based on quality characteristics.

Sarah, who has also worked over the summer holidays in quality control at the Costa Berries blueberry farm at Sulphur Creek, said she was keen to pursue a career in horticulture.

“Working at Costa allowed me to gain knowledge on the processes involved in blueberry production and harvest in the North West of Tasmania,” she said.

“The Scholarships has taken a bit of the pressure off and has helped with the costs of living out of home.”

The recipient of the undergraduate Costa Scholarship in Agricultural Science for 2021-2024 is Jack Schouten, who is in the first year of a Bachelor of Agricultural Science with Honours.

Costa Group is saddened to learn of the passing of Frank Costa AO.

Frank was a great Australian who through his leadership and vision helped build the Costa Group into the global leading fresh produce business that it is today.

Frank was a people champion and he lived by the mantra of “hire for character, train for skill”.  He placed considerable store in a person’s character and integrity, most importantly he led by example and created a strong people focused culture within the Costa business which is still going strong to this day.

We can all say we were better off for knowing Frank.  All those who came into contact with him were struck by his generosity of spirit, his genuine interest in their personal welfare, his wise counsel, and his positive outlook on life.

Costa Group extends its sincerest condolences and best wishes to Frank’s wife Shirley and the entire Costa family.

Sean Hallahan

Costa Group Managing Director and CEO