Start of a cluster?
Australia: Costa Group opens new Guyra glasshouse (10 ha)
Photos by Scot MacDonald
Costa is Australia’s largest grower, packer and marketer of premium quality fresh fruit and vegetables. Berries, mushrooms, citrus, grapes, bananas, avocados and tomatoes form the core categories of the company. They have been growing tomatoes in glasshouses in the Guyra area for over twelve years. "I don't think many of us could quite believe it until the first 5 hectares went up and the tomatoes began to roll out the door," Scott MacDonald said. By now, he's a fan - and not only because of the regional development the company has delivered. "The efficiency of land, labour, capital, water, fertiliser and every conceivable input is unparalleled. These glasshouse tomatoes use 95% less pesticides compared to field crops. 90% less water. And 80% less fertiliser. The productivity is world class."
The Guyra farm grows blush branded truss tomatoes year round, which are then packed in five kilogram trays and 500g pre-packed formats for delivery to Australia’s major retailers and domestic markets. They also produce two varieties of cocktail truss tomatoes, predominantly pre-packed for the retail chains.
George Haggar (COO Costa Group), Robyn Jackson (Former Mayor) and Scot MacDonald MLC
Photos by Keshav Timalsena, Costa Group
The expansion is the first settlement on a new location. The greenhouse here can be expanded to 20 hectares. But MacDonald sees more opportunities for horticulture in this area. "I am very hopeful this won't be the last development. I believe stakeholders and investors should consider a glasshouse cluster around Guyra attracting a range of greenhouse enterprises, commodities, skilled staff and leading technology. The silicon valley of glasshouse agriculture. The Dutch do this so well and there is no reason why we shouldn't emulate them. Holland has 60 square kilometres under glass. They are world leaders in horticulture; the largest exporters of tomatoes; exporters of glasshouse technology, seed production; green genomics; and variety development across flowers, fruit, vegetables and trees," he said.
"One of the strategies to achieve this success is their Horticulture clusters called Greenports where agricultural, IT and related businesses and academia collaborate on production, Research and development, logistics, marketing, infrastructure, and exports. A key part of their development work is creating glasshouses that are net exporters of energy. To their credit, Costas are already engaging the University of New England in a range of studies. We have the necessary elements to build a greenhouse cluster and horticulture innovation centre in Guyra. There is no greater, more exciting time to be a glasshouse leader and innovator. As a State Government we should be part of that vision and opportunity."
Check out photos of the building progress at Van der Hoeven Greenhouse projects.