Australia's Largest Hydroponic Strawberry Glasshouse To Be Built In Victoria's Latrobe Valley

ABC Rural

By Isabella Pittaway

April 16, 2018

Strawberry growers say plans for Australia's largest hydroponic strawberry glasshouse, to be built in Victoria's Latrobe Valley, will oversaturate an already crowded market.

The Federal Government has provided $3 million towards the glasshouse to be built by Mecrus Group, which trades as Gippsland Strawberries and Berry Sensation. The glasshouse would be six times the size of the MCG.

It will cost $37 million, and will be capable of producing more than 2,000 tonnes of strawberries annually.

Mecrus Group already grows strawberries at Officer and Shady Creek near Warragul, east of Melbourne.

Managing director Barry Richards said more than 120 ongoing jobs will be created after the 12-hectare glasshouse is constructed.

The glasshouse will be built in the Latrobe Valley, a region which has lost hundreds of jobs after a power station closure.

"We'll build it in three, four-hectare stages, just so that's more manageable," he said.

"It's a significant increase from where we are now.

"There'll be 122 full-time jobs after construction and they'll range from professional growers, quality control, harvesting, planting and crop maintenance."

Mr Richards said demand for the company's strawberries was growing locally and it had set its eyes on domestic markets moving forward.

"For the future it'll be interstate but right now we can't keep up with the demand in Victoria," he said.

"Glasshouse production of fresh fruit has grown dramatically over the last 15 years, particularly with tomatoes, cucumbers and eggplants, but glasshouse production of strawberries hasn't as yet developed."

Growers' association says glasshouse will be 'another nail in the coffin' for strawberry industry

Victorian Strawberry Growers Association president Sam Violi said the development of a large strawberry glasshouse in Victoria would kill the industry.

"For the industry, this will be like another nail in the coffin for the strawberry industry in Victoria," he said.

"Most of the strawberry industry in Victoria is family-oriented, husband and wife and maybe some children. There are quite a lot of smaller growers. With the competition, they'll probably be forced out."

Mr Violi said there was already strong competition in Victoria from strawberry growers in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.

"We are going to have a fair bit of fruit on the market. The fruit coming out of Queensland in the last few years has caused a glut and we've seen strawberries retail for 99 cents. I think this will have a detrimental effect," he said.

"The prices will go down and be uneconomical.

"We know that the cost of production in Victoria has been about $2 for a 250 gram punnet. It's all manual labour. The profit margin is diminishing and you can't stay in the marketplace for a loss. Bigger corporate people, using other money, can absorb the cost.

"I'm not sure they are tyring to force the closures of business, but it will have that effect."

New strawberry variety to be released

Mecrus Group is about to release 12 new exclusive strawberry varieties following years of research at its Shady Creek site in West Gippsland.

"We spent a number of years overseas working with overseas breeders to try to find newer varieties of strawberries that have a much sweeter taste, more fragrance, a greater shelf life," Mr Richards said.

"All the sorts of things the consumer in Australia is looking for in strawberries.

The first commercial variety to be released is called Desire.

"It has been out over the past year through our stalls at farmers markets and some fruiterers and proved very popular," Mr Richards said.

"It's a reasonably sweet, very red fruit."