Cultivating fruit that’s sweet in taste, colour and consistency drove overseas expansion. Now 2PH is one of the largest privately-owned mandarin orchards in the southern hemisphere.
Strong export markets for 2PH citrus
In the 1990s, 2PH Farms made the decision to drive business growth by cultivating new varieties of better-tasting fruit for Australian and overseas markets. Since then, its primary investment goal has been to produce acclaimed fruit that can’t be replicated elsewhere. Today the investments are paying off and export markets are strong for 2PH’s citrus produce.
2PH’s orchards in Emerald, Queensland, are lush and green, boosted by good soil, water and plenty of sunshine – all of which are essential for citrus.
The process of overseas expansion began in the 1980s when owners Craig and Bindi Pressler planted their first tomato vines and citrus orchards, exporting relatively small export volumes into Asia. In just over three decades, 2PH, opens in new window has grown from a small family property into one of the largest privately-owned mandarin orchards in the southern hemisphere.
“When you buy 2PH citrus you get freshness, excellent flavour, beautiful colour, good storage and shelf life,” says Craig Pressler, CEO. “Genetic modification to achieve all this has been our focus since the 1990s.”
From devastated orchard to world-class business
When citrus canker bacteria swept through the Central Highlands district of Queensland in 2005, the results for 2PH were devastating. They were forced to destroy all of their orchards, so their export business drew to an abrupt halt. Instead of giving up they used the wipe-out as an opportunity to introduce new business expansion models, rebuilding the business from the ground up, developing infrastructure and building a state-of-the art operation to meet export demand.
“It was hard, but there are opportunities or upsides with every tough time, even with losing everything,” explains Pressler. “You start with a clean slate. Technology has changed a lot since the 1980s. We’ve now built a world-class facility to deliver quality exports to our clients.”
Along with replanting, redevelopment activities for 2PH included investing in new technologies such as laser-levelling, probes for irrigation and advanced new watering systems. They also used the opportunity to review the orchard’s layout and topography, water usage and erosion, while rationalising and enhancing their citrus varieties.
Today Pressler says the business has more than 1,400 acres of citrus, with some 300,000 productive trees and an incredible 550 acres of grapes – all of which are harvested by hand to ensure a quality product for export markets.
New business growth strategies
The company’s key export – the Phoenix mandarin – is a seedless Murcott variety and 2PH’s own unique fruit.
“We’re non-commodity growers,” explains Pressler. “Commodities are such that everyone has Imperials for example. We want to produce a small amount of a product that really can’t be found anywhere else, so we don’t have to be a price taker.”
However, business expansion through developing new export varieties comes with considerable trial and error.
2PH was the first Australian grower to import the Afourer Birdwood citrus variety from California. “We should have won a gold medal for being the worst Afourer grower again and again,” Pressler says. “We didn’t give up, though. We just thought: ‘How are we going to grow them?’”
They decided to try growing the Afourer in isolation, carefully managing the crop’s specific water and nutritional needs. In time, this produced a seedless fruit unique in colour, size and variety: the 2PH Afourer.
The business is producing relatively small export volumes but the owners prefer it that way. “We don’t want too much export volume; it’s about being the only ones producing a quality variety and developing a niche market,” Pressler says. “Our other key advantage is taste, purely taste. The Chinese supermarkets can’t get enough of it – they’re saying they can’t sell their other fruit but they can’t get enough of our fruit. The uniqueness is what it’s about; that’s where the demand lies.”
2PH’s seedless lemon is also in growth in food and beverage markets in Australia and around the world, he says, due to the need for a ‘good squeeze of fresh lemon juice’ without seeds dropping into drinks or over seafood dishes.
A zest for people and export relationships
In addition to producing a unique, world-class product, exporting success for 2PH has relied on perpetual investments in relationships, along with a passion for supporting people and processes. These factors combined help to guarantee the quality and consistency of the product onto supermarket shelves overseas and into the hands of the end consumer.
Pressler says 2PH takes a long-term view on export relationships. He recommends not capitalising on short-term pricing, for example, over considering the longer-term relationship. Establishing trust and a firm line of demand is important.
The other factor in 2PH’s exporting success is investment in their people and processes, ensuring the product is handled with rigour and care at each stage in the process. The business stands behind its highly consistent output: from the seed to the tree through the export process and onto the consumer’s table.
“Products have to be described accurately year in and year out,” Pressler says. “And expectations have to be met or exceeded. You must always deliver consistent quality and be committed to that quality. The benefit is that customers will continue to order from you. That’s the relationship – it’s a two-way street.”
The government's step-by-step guidelines for exporting plants and plant products, opens in new window and Austrade's guide to exporting fresh fruit and vegetables, opens in new window provide more details.
Planting for a fruitful future
Pressler believes keeping up with future export demand and ensuring continued success relies on hard-working staff and forward-thinking management. 2PH continues to invest in staff training and development programs to support its people, and in additional planting.
The business also invests in an ongoing research and development program, planting more than 10 hectares dedicated to the cultivation of new citrus varieties and developing unique seedless produce with better colour and, of course, taste.
“We’re exploring many more export markets,” Pressler says. “We’ve learned to perfect what we do and we never give up. We’re also humble about our success – it’s all been about hard work and being true to our word. And there’s more hard work to be done.”
If going international matters to you, we're here to make it happen.
Other business moments
Related products and services
Get in touch
Contact us
Visit our business banking contact page for how-to-guides and FAQs, as well as contact numbers.
Visit a NAB branch
Our business bankers are located all around Australia.
Important information
Apologies but the Important Information section you are trying to view is not displaying properly at the moment. Please refresh the page or try again later.
The information contained in this article is correct as of July 2018 and is intended to be of a general nature only. It has been prepared without taking into account any person’s objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on this information, NAB recommends that you consider whether it is appropriate for your circumstances. NAB recommends that you seek independent legal, financial, and taxation advice before acting on any information in this article.