The South Australian Produce Market (SAPM) has welcomed the privatisation and sale of Perth’s wholesale fruit and vegetable market (Market City), saying it will “enable the sector to control its own destiny”.
In mid-February it was announced that Market City would be sold to Perth Markets Limited – a horticulture industry-based consortium in which SAPM has a 9.59% shareholding.
SAPM Chairman David Schirripa says the deal will create stronger synergies between growers in different states, and allow markets to do more for the industry.
“This investment is the type of investment the SAPM Board has been working towards for some time. Owning a share of another capital city wholesale market which is controlled by the industry, like SAPM, is a perfect fit,” he says.
“It allows us to leverage our first-hand knowledge of the fresh fruit and vegetable industry and longstanding relationships with other industry players, including those in WA.”
Perth Markets Limited’s other investors include Brisbane Markets Limited (the owner and operator of Brisbane’s wholesale produce market), fruit and vegetable growers, wholesalers and tenants of Market City.
The sale also means that four of Australia’s capital city wholesale markets – in Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Sydney – will now be privately owned. Mr Schirripa says this type of ownership structure gives them huge advantages in terms of control and efficiency throughout the industry.
“If the industry owns it, the industry can act more quickly and efficiently than if it’s government-owned. Furthermore, the industry can do more things to promote the sector.”
“For example, in Adelaide, independent supermarkets like Foodland compete directly with major supermarkets and are of a similar size. The promotion of consumption of fruit and vegetables in these supermarkets as well as in independent greengrocers is incredibly important – and markets owned by the industry can be part of that promotion,” he says.
“What we need to do is promote the independents because they keep the central markets going, whereas the two major supermarkets – Coles and Woolworths – are increasingly bypassing central markets.”
He also says it opens up greater opportunities for export to other countries.
“By being linked to markets and growers around the country, you may be able to facilitate a longer period of supply for export markets. And that’s a big thing with export produce at the moment, that you may not be able to meet demand,” he says.
“So you might have a market for cherries or stonefruit or some other line of produce that can go to overseas markets, for instance, but producers in SA might only be able to supply that produce at a certain time of year. With privately owned and partnered markets, though, there might be other growers in other states that have produce at other times, creating a longer export period to meet the overseas demand.”
Mr Schirripa says this is an area of the industry that SAPM is particularly focused on at the moment.
“We are looking at export now, and export consolidation function as another way to work with growers,” he says.
“At the moment, there are a lot of growers that might want to export but are so involved in the growing process that they don’t have the time or knowledge to do everything that’s required. So we are looking at how we can facilitate the export of produce for them.”
SAPM is currently undertaking comprehensive studies and field trips to look at the export markets in Asia. Mr Schirripa says they are also working with people who already export food – whether fresh or processed – for assistance on the best approaches for this kind of export service, which he hopes will make it easier for growers to have other sale opportunities.
“Growers just want to grow, that’s hard enough and it truly is a lot of work. I’m an avocado grower and it’s hard yakka without dealing with export. If there’s someone that can help you do that, then it makes sense to work with them,” he says.
“I know that in Adelaide we are well advanced down that track, and in the coming months we’ll offer that service.”
He says it’s also possible other markets like those in Perth and Brisbane will consider following suit in the future.
“And with continuing trend of market bypass from major supermarkets, we need another avenue like this,” he says.
