A new Australasian berry joint venture between Driscoll’s and CostaExchange Ltd will open its doors for business tomorrow, operating under the name Driscoll’s Australia.
The new entity will have exclusive rights to berry varieties from both companies, and will aim to develop a year-round ‘berry patch’ on Australian retail shelves.
Heading Driscoll’s Australia will be food industry veteran Russell Allwell, who brings with him 25 years of experience in the sector, working with companies such as Kraft, Simplot, Berri and George Weston Foods.
“This is a great opportunity for Driscoll’s and CostaExchange to produce superior berries, build on our recognised brand leadership and utilise our marketing expertise,” said Soren Bjorn, Driscoll’s senior vice president of international and business development.
“Driscoll’s Australia allows our two companies to create a true, year-round branded berry patch – strawberry, raspberry, blackberry and blueberry – offering in Australasia.”
Driscoll’s tie-up with CostaExchange brings the berry giant significant clout in the Australian industry – the Costa Group’s BerryExchange division produces around 75 per cent of Australia’s blueberries and 33 per cent of its raspberries. The division also has one of the largest blueberry germplasm banks in the world, with a particular focus on early season varieties.
“Combining the great Driscoll’s varieties and passion for delighting consumers with the farming expertise and marketing position of CostaExchange establishes Driscoll’s Australia as the absolute premier fresh berry marketing company in Australasia,” said Simon Costa, managing director of the Costa Group.
Driscoll’s previously had a joint venture in Australia with Oz Fresh, which held the intellectual property rights to license production of its varieties in the country. That agreement was more of an ‘arms length’ arrangement for the US company, which has since decided it wants to get into sales and marketing in Australia and work more closely with growers and retailers in order to develop a year-round berry category for the consumer.
“We want to duplicate what we’ve done in North America with berries,” Mr Bjorn told Fruitnet.com when the joint venture plans were first announced earlier this year. “Our long-term goal is to run a 52-week-a-year programme, or as we call it, ‘a year-round berry patch’.
“We have discussed the concept with the leading retail chains in Australia, and they’re very enthusiastic about it,” he revealed. “They have both shown a strong commitment to making it work and they see big opportunities to grow the berry category in Australia, which is significantly underdeveloped.”
Driscoll’s Australia will enter the market with a strong blueberry offering from CostaExchange, and the company is confident its suite of raspberry and blackberry varieties can be adapted to Australian production.
Strawberries are expected to be more of a challenge, according to Mr Bjorn. “Strawberries are much tougher as they tend to be quite ‘native’ and strawberry genetics are more finicky to move around because they behave very differently at different latitudes, temperatures and humidities,”
But he added that Driscoll’s has greatly expanded is strawberry breeding programmes in the last few years, and the company is confident it will find varieties suitable for Australian conditions.
