First Steps
Recently The Growing Group entered the Australian Market. It has taken some time to get certification to land CarboPhos in Australia due to its complex (however biologically rewarding) inputs.
Australia has always been a target market for TGG – their phosphate market is 3 times larger than NZ and with a strongly competitive market our products will be evaluated on their true worth. Australia does not have the “Cooperative loyalty” prevalent in NZ, so products and companies have to stand on their merits.
The Australian government have also issued water solubility guidelines for phosphate fertilisers in sensitive areas, originally aiming for <40% water solubility by 2011 and <25% water soluble P by 2014; CarboPhos complies with both of these criteria making it particularly relevant.
To create momentum Chris and Matt attended the ANZ fertilizer conference held on the Sunshine Coast, QLD, at the start of October. This was, without doubt, beneficial for the Growing Group to attend. We formed a better understanding of how different the fertiliser industry is compared to NZ and gained some great future contacts for advice, direction and sales!
What we found most interesting about the Australian market is that companies tend to stick to one or two main industries (i.e. cropping, horticulture, or dairy) and generally do not diversify. Furthermore, product usage varies completely from state to state, even within the same industry.
Following the conference we have had success getting pricing to resellers and direct sales will commence to generate commercial interest for our CarboProducts.
Where to from here?
Onwards and upwards! We will be working closely with the resellers who have shown interest already, and will continue to look for others interested responsible farming – so if you know anyone we should be talking to, please contact us.
We will continue to conduct trials in Australia to obtain more relevant results, and also to feature in Australian backed and recognized companies’ reports. This is an ongoing part of TGG strategy so that we can deliver the best quality and factual data to our farmers!
CarboUrea?
With a slower release, lower application product, we know there is a lot of anticipation for the introduction of CarboUrea. We are working on import approval right now, so if you are interested then leave your details on the CarboUrea page and we will ensure you are one of the first recipients!
