A GROWER open day organised by Murray River Organics (MRO) this week has helped open the door to local dried fruit stakeholders to learn more about the company’s plans for the season, and the future in general.
Held at MRO’s Mourquong Dried Fruit Processing Centre on Wednesday, more than 20 people attended the event, which featured site tours and a luncheon.
The open day was held following the release of MRO’s pricing schedule for the 2019 dried fruit season, which has seen the group increase its prices by up to 25 percent as part of a plan to ensure growers receive “a fair return” for their fruit commensurate with global pricing trends.
Those trends have seen a doubling of pricing in comparable global grower markets in the past few years alone.
MRO general manager Sunraysia Operations, Wayne Turner, said the day was also about showcasing the improvements made by the organisation to its facilities and practices.
“We get a product that we can go out into the global market with, and that’s probably the major focus… is that our business model is global,” he said. “Eighty percent of what we produce here, from an organic point of view and from a conventional point of view with our growers, goes to the export market.
“The prices we have selected this year is based on what’s happening globally, and we want to play in that market.”
MRO is currently offering between $2000 to $2600 a tonne for sultana fruit depending on grade, while also offering $2300 a tonne for currants.
MRO CEO, Valentina Tripp, PICTURED, said that MRO had come a long way in the past few months following a restructure of the leadership team, and an overhaul of operations.
“Our leadership team has worked really hard to make the changes that needed to be made to enable us to be the company that we want to be,” she said. “In particular our focus on organics is really important to us.
“We want to, together with growers, grow dried fruit volumes in this region…you can see what’s happening with other crops like almonds and citrus, and we are the next ones off the rank.
“We’re looking forward to our export markets kicking in.”
Ms Tripp also acknowledged the ongoing support of local growers.
“The support you’ve given us… our growers, the broader community and the changes we’ve put in place – we’re just delighted to have you here and share our story,” she said.
Ms Tripp said the company, thanks to past, present and new investors, had also expanded its research and development wing to broaden business opportunities.
“When we talk about our business, it is a three-year turnaround…we have incredible assets, including our farms…there is at least 40 percent of our vines that aren’t mature yet, so we have a lot of capacity coming on,” she said.
MRO currently sources fruit from 40 local growers – in addition to fruit it grows – and is looking to expand that volume produced as demand for Australian dried fruit increases.
Ms Tripp added that MRO was aiming to double the volume of fruit processed, grown by the company, to 5000 tonnes over the next three years.
“We have 1000 hectares of vines planted, and the demand for dried fruit is growing, especially in the Asian markets,” she said. “We have the capacity to cater for 15,000 tonnes of fruit (at our facility), and have a further 2300 hectares of land available at our Nangiloc property, so we’re looking at options there.”
Export has become “a big driver” for MRO, with the Asian market demanding Australian fruit.
In light of this, MRO is set to launch a number of new products overseas through the Japanese FoodX event, and in China.
“We are on track to where we need to be,” Ms Tripp said.
MRO deal in both organic and conventional dried fruit, and have dehydration facilities and processing facilities on site.
The facility can dehydrate up to two tonnes of fruit every hour if needed, with the facility seen as an insurance policy should weather conditions not be conducive to normal drying practices.
